3 Sparta teams compile winning records at robotics competition

Sparta High School robotics students competed at the South Brunswick High School Spin Up competition Feb. 4, and three teams, 5249 Z “Artemis,” 5249 A “W.I.P” and 5249 B “Apollo,” earned winning records during qualifiers.

All of Sparta’s teams earned their way into the tournament portion of the competition, with 5249 Z, 5249 A and 5249 S “Zepherus” being knocked out in the quarterfinals.

“The teams are doing consistently better in their performance,” said head coach Mark Meola. “Their engineering skills are being put to the test and they are demonstrating the ability to solve sometimes difficult and challenging technical problems all while under the pressure of competition.”

Another highlight of the day was 5249 X “Athena,” an all-girls team of freshmen, being recognized with a Judges Award. That award is presented to a team that the judges determine is deserving of special recognition.

Judges consider a number of criteria for the award, such as team displays of special attributes, exemplary effort and perseverance at the event, or team accomplishments or endeavors throughout the season that may not fit under existing awards.

Team members are Emma Hamilton, Sneha Verma, Srihitha Jakka and Zainab Mashal.

“New to Sparta Robotics this year, these four freshman ladies jumped in fearlessly and learned to design and build their robot as well as learning to write code for it,” said assistant coach Margaret Incantalupo.

“They and their robot performed very well. The competition judges were extremely impressed by the team during the interview session as well as throughout the day’s competition. Their dedication and teamwork resulted in their receiving the Judges Award.”