Robotics team has 6-5 record at World Championships

The Sparta High School robotics team 5249 Z “Artemis” competed at the 2023 World Championships in Dallas at the end of April.

The team won an exhibition match, then went 5-5 in qualifiers for a 6-5 overall record.

“Although this was a winning record, it was not enough to get us into the division tournament,” said head robotics coach Mark Meola.

The team is ranked in the top 3 percent of the 13,500 high school and middle school teams that competed this year in a competition called “Spin Up.” It had a better record than nearly 400 teams at the competition.

Team members and their roles are senior Millen Duberry, the captain and mechanical engineer; senior Brandon Louissaint, strategist and computer aided design; junior Cassidy, computer science; sophomore Liam Askin, mechanical engineer and computer science; sophomore Nick Audino, mechanical engineer and driver; and sophomore Shannon Lloyd, strategist and technical writing.

“This is, once again, an amazing accomplishment for Sparta Robotics,” Meola said. “A unique consideration of this team is that it is composed of six individuals. ... This is the first time that a team of predominantly underclassmen have made it all the way to the World Championships.

“They learned an enormous amount due to the experience of competing against teams from 40 different countries.”

Assistant coach Margaret Incantalupo said, “The team combined their skills in engineering, programming and driving to provide their opponents with stiff competition while exemplifying good sportsmanship.”