Over 550 students turned out Saturday, June 2, for the 16th annual MOST Central New York Rocket Team Challenge at Syracuse University’s Skytop Field, the second highest attendance in Rocket Team Challenge history. Students in a junior level (grades four through eight) and senior level (grades nine through 12), competed on launch trajectory, rocketry knowledge, and other criteria.
CNY Rocket Team Challenge is organized by the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology (MOST) and Syracuse Rocket Club. Event sponsors include SRC, Lockheed Martin, College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University, Technology Alliance of Central New York (TACNY), and NASA.
Here are the 2018 CNY Rocket Team Challenge winners:
Junior Level Winners
First place: Team Rocket L.A.B.B. Alliance, Pine Grove Middle School, East Syracuse Minoa district, with team members Benjamin Kowanes, Brooke Cardarelli, Ajla Mujakovic and Leslie Yakubu, all fifth-graders.
Second place: Houston we have multiple problems, with no school affiliation, with team members Tyler Broschart and Sadie Wildrick, both in eighth grade, and Jack Cofer in 7th grade.
Third place: Number 2 Pencils, with no school affiliation, with team members Kyle Broschart, Sean Broschart, Harry Wildrick and Conor Leuschke, all fifth-graders.
Fourth place: Spatium Feles, Pine Grove Middle School, East Syracuse Minoa district, with team members Jordan Coolbeth, Emily Hughes, Abbey Rode and Amelia Heisler, all sixth-graders.
Senior Level Winners
First place: Project Mercury, Mexico High School, with team members Daniel Scully, Tyler Kraus, Derrick Mosher and Kevin Mason, 12th-graders, and Aidan Cadrette and Lyle Trimble, ninth-graders.
Second place: Irish Lights in the Sky, Bishop Ludden, with team membrs Emily Patrick, Johanna Zhou, Judy Tang, and Jenna Isabelle, 11th-graders, and Arthur Hardick, in 12th grade.
Third place: The Bill Tyes, Mexico High School, with team members Kimberly Heagerty, 11th-grader, and Marisa Ohmann, Alexis Cleveland, and Morgan Rhoads, 12th-graders.
Fourth place: CNDT: Cumulonimbus Design Technologies, Paul V. Moore High School in the Central Square district, with team members Jeff Nystro, Skylar Revette, and Mark Savage, 12th-graders, and Brodie Lembo and Mark Rio, 11th-graders.
Special Awards
Best Performing Recycled Rocket: C.R.A.S.H., Cazenovia Middle School, with team members Ben Decker, Zach Benedict, NAte Porter, Eli O’Shea and Sam Denton, all seventh-graders.
Most Technical Team, Senior Level: Golden Tornadoes, Christian Brothers Academy, with team members Darien Tompkins, Porter Wilson, Noah Slifka and Kate Janczyk, all ninth-graders.
Most Technical Team, Junior Level: Ground Control, Cazenovia High School, with team members Quinn Smigh, Ben Orbach, Willem Light-Olson and Carter Ruddy, all eighth-graders.
Best Rocket Team Name: Eggcelent what what, Elmcrest School of the Syracuse City School District, with team members Rayquel Gadson, Alicia Ramirez Tyler Finley, Anthony Branca, Edward Hall, William Hammond, Jenalee Pierce and Rocco Stanley, all sixth-graders.
Most Aesthetic Paint Job: The Bill Tyes, Mexico High School, with team members Kimberly Heagerty, 11th-grader, and Marisa Ohmann, Alexis Cleveland, and Morgan Rhoads, 12th-graders.
Closest to Launch Site: CNDT: Cumulonimbus Design Technologies, Paul V. Moore High School in the Central Square district, with team members Jeff Nystro, Skylar Revette, and Mark Savage, 12th-graders, and Brodie Lembo and Mark Rio, 11th-graders.
Furthest from Launch Site: Lucky Lightning, Gillette Road Middle School, with team members Michael Rivera and Noah Ritchie, seventh-graders, Matthew Jordan and Caden Griffin, sixth-graders, and Cameron Walker, fifth-grade.
Highest Flying LOC IV Rocket: Hornet X Rocketry, whose rocket ascended 822 feet, of Wellwood Middle School, with team members Daron Torrence and Lily King, sixth-graders, and Theresa White, Temaria Groover, Grace Huber, Ally Shaw, Aleia Kavisic, and Max Leyhane, fifth-graders.
Highest Flying Graduator Rocket: Project Mercury, whose rocket reached a height of 911 feet, of Mexico High School, with team members Daniel Scully, Tyler Kraus, Derrick Mosher and Kevin Mason, 12th-graders, and Aidan Cadrette and Lyle Trimble, ninth-graders.