Sparta High School hosts 57 robotics teams
SPARTA. Two local teams win places at the state championships in March.
Sparta /
| 22 Jan 2023 | 04:02
Sparta’s team 5249 Z “Artemis” was the only one in contention for the prestigious Excellence Award at the competition Saturday, Jan. 14. From left are team members Brandon Louissaint, Liam Askin, Shannon Lloyd, Cassidy Pry, Nick Audino and Millen Duberry. (Photos provided)
Members of Sparta team 5249 S “Zepherus” are, from left, Mahanth Chintha, Nate Rogoff, Laura Scheri and Andrew Reza. Michael Ginsberg is not pictured.
Fifty-seven teams took part in a robotics competition Saturday, Jan. 14 at Sparta High School.
Last year, Sparta High School won the state robotics championship and advanced to the world competition.
Fifty-seven teams took part in a robotics competition Saturday, Jan. 14 at Sparta High School.
The contest, called Spin Up, was produced by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation.
Mark Meola, head coach of the Sparta teams, said the competition was the largest one in New Jersey in the 2022-23 school year. It was even bigger than the state championships, which will have 45 teams.
Sparta’s team 5249 Z “Artemis” was the only one in contention for the prestigious Excellence Award. It missed earning the recognition because it lost one match during the qualifiers.
That team also went to the semifinals before being knocked out but it secured a place at the state championships by finishing with a high rank in the competitions skills challenge.
Senior Millen Duberry is captain of “Artemis” and team members are senior Brandon Louissaint, junior Cassidy Pry and sophomores Liam Askin, Nick Audino and Shannon Lloyd.
Sparta team 5249 S “Zepherus” received the Innovation Award for a superior digital engineering notebook and also was won a place at the state championships.
Junior Nate Rogoff and senior Andrew Reza are captains of that team and members are sophomores Laura Scheri, Mahanth Chintha and Michael Ginsberg.
The tournament champions were two Millburn teams: 7505N “Nitro” and 7605R “Riptide.”
Sparta High School Robotics will be competing at South Brunswick High School on Saturday Feb. 4, then at Millburn High School on Feb. 11.
The state championships will be March 4 at the Bell Works in Holmdel. The world championships will be in April in Dallas.
More than 23,000 high school and middle school teams from more than 50 countries compete in this challenge.
Last year, Sparta High School won the state championship and advanced to the world stage, finishing in the top 2 percent of all teams worldwide.
“Sparta teams have a driving will to win and that is a fundamental motivator that fuels their focus in testing, evaluating and redesigning their robots’ capabilities,” said Meola, who teaches robotics and engineering at the high school.
The assistant coach is Margaret Incantalupo, who teaches computer science.
“Sparta teams have a driving will to win and that is a fundamental motivator that fuels their focus in testing, evaluating and redesigning their robots’ capabilities.” - Mark Meola, head coach, Sparta High School Robotics