Montini Catholic robotics team compete in Great Lakes VEX Tournament

Montini Catholic robotics team members were thrilled to be able to compete in their first in-person competition since 2020.

The energized teams (Team A - Horsepower and Team B - Bronco) traveled to Batavia High School Jan. 9 for the Great Lakes VEX Tournament, hosted by Fox Valley Robotics.

The VEX Robotics Competition tasks students with designing and building a robot to play against other teams in a game-based engineering challenge.

Classroom STEM concepts are put to the test as students learn lifelong skills in teamwork, leadership, communication, and more. Tournaments are held year-round at the regional, state, and national levels and culminate at the VEX Robotics World Championship.

Montini Robotics seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by competing in these events.

Montini's Bronco Team B, with lead driver Hayden Surrette, hit a high of 131 points in the quarterfinals, coming in 14th position in the rankings (out of 36 teams).

Additional team members were, spotters Conor Kaefer and Frank Flores, programmer Michael Pogorelec, and builders Dhruv Patel, Conor Kaefer, Hayden Surrette, Michael Pogorelec, and Wyatt Prater.

Horsepower Team A with Lead Driver Thomas Cyze, scored a high of 146 in the quarterfinals, ranking 8th. The team included spotters Anjay Dhir, Alex Silveyra, and Will Prater, coder Josh Tolefree, and builders Shree Muthukumaran, and Matt Silveyra.

"Our teams met several times over the break to prepare for the competition season," said Pete Farina, technology director and robotics coach, Class of 1987. "Sparks were literally flying as the teams put the finishing touches on their robot builds in December and got lots of driving practice over break. Our goal is to get back to the State championship tournament at the end of February!" (Montini's Robotics Team A - Horsepower qualified for State last year.)

The VEX Robotics Competition, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, is the largest and fastest growing middle school and high school robotics program globally with more than 20,000 teams from 50 countries playing in over 1,700 competitions worldwide.

The next competition for both teams is on Saturday, Feb. 19.

Bronco Robotic Teams A & B include: Thomas Cyze (junior, Willowbrook, Holy Trinity Catholic School); Anjay Dhir (sophomore, Lombard, Glenn Westlake); Frank Flores (sophomore, Bloomingdale, St. Matthew); Conor Kaefer (freshman, Lombard, Sacred Heart); Shree Muthukumaran (senior, Lombard); Dhruv Patel (sophomore, Bolingbrook, St. Dominic School); Michael Pogorelec (sophomore, Woodridge, Lakeview Junior High); Will Prater (junior, Naperville, Jefferson Junior High); Wyatt Prater (freshman, Naperville, Jefferson Junior High); Alex Silveyra (junior, Carol Stream, St. Isidore School); Matt Silveyra (freshman, Carol Stream, St. Isidore School); Hayden Surrette (freshman, Downers Grove, Herrick Middle School); Josh Tolefree (senior, Broadview, St. John's Lutheran).