Team expects to compete in the FIRST National Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., in mid-April
Hopewell Valley Central High School’s FIRST Robotics Team 293 won first place at the Chesapeake Regional, held at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., from March 15-17.
The team and their robot, Spike X, allied with and against other FIRST Robotics teams in a three-on-three contest called "Rack ‘N’ Roll." The team and their robot also won the Motorola Quality Award, which celebrates machine robustness in concept and fabrication.
After the qualifying matches leading up to the final matches, Team 293 earned a match record of 7-0-0, and was the only undefeated team in a field of 61.
As a result, Team 293 was in the top-ceded position and earned the first pick when forming their alliance for the final matches.
On Saturday, they invited Team 75 of Hillsborough and Team 203 of Sicklerville to join their final’s alliance. The alliance won their quarter, semi, and final matches to earn the title of Champions of the FIRST Chesapeake Regional.
The team expects to compete in the FIRST National Championship to be held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., in mid-April.
Team members who attended the Chesapeake Region competition include: Olga Andreyeva, Manishika Agaskar, Chris Babecki, Anna Bruestle, Aubree Burns, Rebecca Fuger, Peder Gilbert, Max Gilbert, Bryan Hatch, Owen Healy, Gus Huebner, Ben Jarrett, Matt Jaworsky, Christina Jaworsky, Noah Kershaw, Hannah Konig, Max Konig, Sophie Krasucki, Rob LaPosta, Michael Lewis, Lisa Liu, Amalie McKee, Alex Melman, Bobby Miller, Lauren Nowicki, Colin Ogren, Michael Ornstein, Archana Rachakonda, Ellen Sherwood, Abby Stern and Scott Stilson.
The club advisor is Harry Peles, physics teacher at CHS. Club mentors are Ed Petrillo, Gale Downey, Jim Andrews and Glen Babecki.

