Sparta Robotics’ ‘Ring Leader’ team ranks 5th, heads to the States
Sparta. Varsity team 5249 Z as well as several outstanding sub-teams will compete in Holmdel on March 5.
Saturday was a great day for robotics at Sparta High School. Sparta Robotics hosted the largest robotics competition in New Jersey, with more than 60 teams registered and 75 qualifier matches.
Varsity team 5249 Z “Ring Leader” ranked 5th out of 55 competing teams during qualifiers. They have now qualified for the States, to take place on Saturday, March 5, at the corporate campus Bell Works in Holmdel, N.J.
5249 Z is made up of Co-Captains Sarah Bargfried, Nick Ventresca and team members Hayden Budofsky, Shaelin Murphy Andy Stefanik, Tanner Mell and Anthony DelCoro.
5249 Z also improved its standing in the state moving from 11th place to 7th place in Skills. Shaelin Murphy is the teams primary coder and Nick Ventresca is the teams driver. Skills are a combination of both coding and driving. It puts to the test a team’s ability to design, build, code and debug every aspect of a complex robotic system.
5249 Z was also the recipient of the Think Award. The Think ward is a technically judged award that recognizes a team’s advanced work in coding autonomous behavior in their robot.
5249 Z was recognized for developing multiple autonomous robot behaviors that could be selected from an onboard custom user interface. This gave the team the ability to optimize the robots performance based on several match affecting considerations.
Z’s lead coder, Shaelin Murphy, was responsible for optimizing all robot coding functions and did an outstanding job leading to this achievement.
Several other Sparta Robotics sub-teams also had excellent advancement in skills and earned their way to this year’s New Jersey State Championships.
The following Sparta Robotics sub-teams also have now qualified for the States:
● 5249 X “Magician” Captain Bektar Totshev, Team members Liam Askin, Nick Audino, Noah Atkins
● 5249 S “Maestro” Captain Millen Duberry, Team members Brandon Louissant, Andrew Reza, Cassidy Pry, Shannon Lloyd and Tyler Harms.
● 5249 J “Not to Scale” Co-Captains Laurel Ferguson, Jack Maraziti and team members Joe Byrnes, Matt Byrnes, Jack Budofsky and Kayleigh Simpson.
“Some additional impressive facts about our Sparta competition was the support it received from so many teachers, administrators, IT staff, custodians, guards and parents,” said Head Coach Mark Meola and Assistant Coach Margaret Incantalupo. “Without them taking a direct, vested interest in the success of our students this event would be impossible to accomplish.”
Meola teaches Applied Technology, Robotics and Engineering at Sparta High School.
“Some additional impressive facts about our Sparta competition was the support it received from so many teachers, administrators, IT staff, custodians, guards and parents. Without them taking a direct, vested interest in the success of our students this event would be impossible to accomplish.” Head Coach Mark Meola and Assistant Coach Margaret Incantalupo