Montini Catholic robotics team off to a strong start

Montini Catholic’s robotics team is celebrating a very successful season, gaining traction after securing an early state qualification in November.

Last year, Team A was the highest ranking team at state upon qualifying for the VEX Worlds Competition where they ranked among the top 3% in the world at the conclusion of the season. This year’s Team A hasn’t lost the momentum and is cautiously celebrating a repeat of last year’s successful season, racking up the awards as they set their sights on Worlds.

The 23-24 VEX Robotics season began for the Broncos on Nov. 19 when they found massive success at their first match, qualifying for state early in competition season. The students’ diligence and after-school sessions and late night hours are paying off. The team secured the ‘Create’ award at the Vex Tournament in Batavia for the second year in a row and also earned the Robotics Skills Champion title in addition to bringing home the second place overall title.

The Broncos Team A traveled to Batavia once again on Jan. 7, competing against 38 other teams at the VEX Tournament #2 - Over Under, achieving first place in the individual competition, and second place overall. They also earned the ‘Amaze’ award, which is given to the highest scoring robot.

Montini’s A Team is led by Anjay Dhir, Matt Silveyra, Wyatt Prater, Connor Kaefer, Geethan Siram, Michael Pogorelec, Dhruv Patel, Issy Jaojoco, Hayden Surrette and Damjan Pasic-Hernandez.

The Montini Robotics B team also competed Jan. 7 with a great run of five wins and two losses, finishing sixth in qualifications and in the top 16 overall.

Leading Montini’s B team were Frank Flores, Franklin Barnes, Brendan O’Connor, Eric Burgener, Molly Felice, Brianna Konopacz, Ailish McKinzie, Julian Reyes, Alex Santelli, Sophia Stiso and Lucas VanWitzenberg.

Team A will be heading to Cleveland, Ohio in February to compete against 80 teams from around the Midwest. The team is also registered for the CREATE U.S. Open National Robotics Championship in Council Bluffs, Iowa, March 14-16.

“This tournament is second only to Worlds in terms of the number of teams and the level of competition,” robotics coach Pete Farina said in a news release. “There will be 180 top teams from around the U.S. and 20-30 teams from around the world. This is an amazing competitive opportunity for the team. We’ve been trying to qualify for this event for the last four years.”