Lead / Create / Contribute
235 Hope Road, Tinton Falls, NJ 07724  /  732.542.4777

More Stories

List of 10 news stories.

Middle & Upper School Robotics Teams Compete at VEX Nationals

Ranney’s Middle and Upper School Robotics teams returned to campus just in time for National Robotics Week, taking place April 10-14! The students were in Council Bluffs, Iowa, last week to compete at the CREATE U.S. Open Robotics Championships.

The Upper School M Team, featuring sophomore Jiawen (Kevin) Yu, was one of only four teams out of a field of 175 at the national event to remain undefeated during qualifying rounds. With the highest score in autonomous points, his team was seeded #1 heading into the elimination rounds. (M Team members Rylan Foy and Kangqing [Connie] Hall stayed at Ranney to focus on classes.)

The M team selected two world-class robots as its alliance partners for the elimination rounds:  Floyd III, a team from Texas that won both Nationals and Worlds in 2016, and the Discobots K team from the award-winning, internationally recognized Discobots program (an unusual collaborative program that has teams in Texas, California, and Canada). A different Discobots team also won Worlds last year.
 
With such a strong alliance, the high school division alliance easily breezed through their Round of 16 (a 16-alliance bracket) and the quarterfinals, but in the semifinals, an unfortunate mishap ended the amazing run. “It was disappointing to get so close to the win, but the teams in the alliance were all very proud of having made it that far,” says Ranney Robotics Advisor Chiara Shah.
 
Ranney’s other two Upper School teams, A and J, also put up very strong performances, earning 32nd and 40th place in the qualifying rounds. They were selected to participate in elimination round alliances, but both lost during the Round of 16. Team A includes: junior Christopher Glenn, junior Chip Johnson, and senior Ben Iglesia. Team J includes senior Dana Schioppo, senior Will Zheng, junior Mike Zheng, and senior Jack DeNicola.
 
“This was the first time that all of Ranney’s Upper School teams at Nationals made it to the elimination rounds. And, it was our first time having an undefeated record in qualifying rounds at a national competition. I am so proud of our teams for all their hard work,” added Mrs. Shah.
 
The school’s strong performance has not only boosted the team’s confidence going into Worlds, taking place April 19-23 in Kentucky, but has also generated some attention. Our M team has been asked to appear as a guest this coming Saturday, April 15, on VEXCast, a popular Vex Robotics webcast! Watch the live stream at https://www.vexforum.com/index.php/26720-the-vex-cast-presents-season-2
 
Ranney’s Middle School teams also performed admirably at the national event. For most of the competition, our C team was in 7th place and our G team was hovering around 12th. In the finals, sixth-graders Andrew Pepe and Nick Burniewicz ranked 7th, while seventh-graders Shailen Verma and Cristian Trujillo ranked 9th, out of 17 alliances from across the country. In addition, Andrew and Nick earned a rank of 10th in skills and 16th in teamwork, out of 34 overall teams, while Shailen and Cristian earned a rank of 28th in skills and 19th in teamwork.

“Students in the Upper School continue to serve as mentors for our younger students, advising them on designs and strategy for competitions,” explains Mrs. Shah. “They also volunteer as referees for competitions; two of our seniors even served as judges for the recent VEX IQ state championship.”

The Ranney Robotics program begins in the fourth grade. In fact, two of our Lower School students, Parson Glover and Lily Aspen, will be joining their Upper School peers at VEX Worlds this year!

Follow the Ranney Robotics webpage and Twitter feed @RanneyRobots 
 
 
Back

Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society. 

We envision Ranney School as a nurturing learning community, in which families, faculty, alumni, and all of Ranney’s constituents collaborate to know and value every child, foster individual talents, sustain powerful connections between children and adults, and graduate resilient, globally-minded citizens.