The Ranney School Robotics Team is the king of New Jersey.
The team from the school in Tinton Falls won the New Jersey State Championship during the competition that was held at Cherry Hill High School East on Feb. 23.
Teammates Sandy Wilderotter, Alex Klatsky, Kevin Yu, and Emerald Liu becomes one of 580 teams from around the world to compete in the prestigious event. Seven teams from New Jersey, out of 150, are selected. The other teams are from the United States and 45 other countries.
“I’ve been in the robotics program for five years now. I’ve always been chasing a Vex State Championship. Winning this in my senior year means so much to me because of all the time I spent over the course of these five years working to this goal,” Alex said.
“Just like any sport our main goal is to be the best team in the state and then more,” Sandy said. “The idea that we have become the number one team in New Jersey has begun to inspire us to improve and push us toward being the best team we can become. In robotics, you rebuild and create a better version of your robot after each competition.
“At the beginning of the season, we were not used to the new game. But after each competition we perfected and improved our robot. Because of this, we were able to come up with a design that is unique in the state of New Jersey. With the amount of time, effort, and testing we put into our robot, I knew that it would pay off,” Sandy said.
After winning the state championship, Alex, Sandy, Emerald, and Kevin are focused on Worlds, which will be held at Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, on April 24 through April 27.
The team will continue to develop the robot’s design and study the designs of other robots from around the world.
“At World’s, we will be competing against the very best,” Alex said. “We really think that we can compete with anyone in the world and our goal is to be the first Ranney School team to be World Champions.”
Each member of the robotics team spends at least eight hours a week working. Leading up to the State Championship, the team members put in 40 hours a week to prepare for the competition.
“We are able to work during lunch and flex in school,” Sandy said. “But when Alex and I both have (sports) practices that end around 5 p.m., we have to stay at school working until around 11 p.m. We have to figure out a more efficient system of getting our homework done by managing our time throughout the day differently than most students. The teachers are understanding and know our commitment to robotics and sports are always available to make sure we understand and comprehend the subject matters.”
“The most fulfilling aspect of competing in robotics is being able to come up with your own creation to solve a problem and be able to see your creation grow, develop, and succeed through the hard work our team puts in,” Sandy said.