THS rocketry team finishes 54th in nationals

RUSSELLVILLE — The Tharptown High School rocketry team finished 54th at the 2026 American Rocketry Challenge national finals on Saturday in The Plains, Virginia.

More than 1,100 teams registered for this year’s competition with only 100 advancing to Saturday’s finals.

Coach Misty Henderson said Tharptown’s challenge this year was to launch a rocket to an altitude of 730 feet while keeping the flight time between 36 and 39 seconds.

“Our time was good, but our altitude was off,” Henderson said.

She said Tharptown, Russellville, and Muscle Shoals all experienced similar issues during the launch.

“Something had to be different from home because all three teams performed the same,” Henderson said. “We just haven’t figured it out yet.”

Team members this year include Gerardo Bahena, Cesar Rueda, Breana Amaro and Sofia Lucas.

The trip also included participation in Rockets on the Hill, which allowed selected teams to visit the Rayburn House Office Building and discuss rocketry and STEM education with lawmakers and aerospace representatives.

“They were able to meet lots of congressmen and women and people from NASA and other aerospace industries,” Henderson said.

In addition to competition activities, the students visited several Washington landmarks and museums, including the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the International Spy Museum, the National Mall, and the Capitol area.

Since launching its rocketry team in 2018, Tharptown has qualified for the national finals seven times and recorded four top 10 finishes. The team finished second nationally in 2023 before winning the national championship in 2024. Henderson said many of the same students also qualified for the 2025 national finals but encountered problems during the first round of competition.

Henderson said most of the team is expected to return next season and that students are already discussing plans for next year’s competition.