RHS rocketry team places seventh in nation

RUSSELLVILLE – Russellville High School’s Team 2 placed seventh in this year’s American Rocketry Challenge national finals in The Plains, Virginia.

Russellville High’s Team 2 members are Ansley Willis, Lakin Derrick, Sadie Odom and Audrey Kiel.

Two of Russellville High’s three rocketry teams qualified for the competition, and both of Tharptown High School’s teams qualified.

“This program teaches you more than just how to build rockets,” said Willis. “It teaches leadership and strategic thinking, but most importantly, teamwork. I was blessed with the best teammates, and without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today!”

Fellow team member Odom described the experience of the competition as a “blessing” that she won’t forget.

“I’m grateful that I have the teammates I do,” Odom said. “We have learned to work well with each other throughout this experience. I’m so glad I got to do all of this, and I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish in the future!”

Kiel said it was “an amazing experience,” an opportunity she’s “incredibly grateful for,” adding it couldn’t have been done without the help of their team sponsor.

“We are so proud to represent Russellville, Alabama, and all women in STEM at the American Rocketry Challenge,” team member Derrick said. “I am so proud of my teammates. I will never forget this incredible comeback that my teammates and I managed to pull off.”

RHS rocketry team sponsor Gabe Willis said the wind was a “huge factor” this year, but that scores for both teams were “really high compared to years past.”

Willis said teams had a target altitude of 815 feet with 41 to 44 seconds for the rocket to return to earth on the first launch.

The second launch had a target altitude of 765 feet with the same time constraints, 41 to 44 seconds.

“Both of our teams had really good rockets this year,” Willis said. “We thought both teams were prepared; however, Mother Nature had other plans. The wind was hard and steady.”

Willis said this made for conditions the students had not seen before.

“Theirfirstlaunchesgave them back results they had not seen in our field,” Willis added. “Unfortunately, Team 1 just missed the cut for the second round.”

Members of Team 1 are Conner McFall, Socrates Fonseca, Josue De La Rosa, Wyatt McFall and Uriel Mojica. They finished 47th overall.

“We may not have gotten the results we wanted, but we are proud of the girls getting top 10,” Willis said. “Team 2 was able to make adjustments for a second launch. They used what little data they had and launched again, and this time they hit the target altitude and only missed the time by 0.05 seconds, giving them a score of 0.2 for their second round.”

Team 2’s first launch at 815 feet had a score of 44.92 and their second launch at 765 feet had a score of 0.2.

Willis shared his enthusiasm for the performance of both teams.

“I am super proud of their performances. It’s a really tough competition.”

Willis added some of the toughest competition they have yearly comes within a 20 mile radius – from Tharptown, Muscle Shoals and Deshler’s new team – all whom he said have “really good, competitive programs because of the quality of students they have and the work that the Propel Science Foundation is doing in this area.”

“We all often launch at the same field,” Willis said. “We all want to beat each other, but if we can’t win or place, we hope the other teams in our area do.”

The rules only allowed for taking the two teams with the best qualifying scores submitted to nationals. Members of Russellville High’s third team are Logan Marshall, Jonathan De La Rosa, Kevin Barrientos and Frank Baltazar.

“All members are important to the Russellville teams’ successes,” Willis said. “Members of one team often teach the other team members tricks or share information with them that’s valuable for rocket performance. Their time is coming because they designed and built a really good rocket, but there were parachute issues.”

Tharptown High

Tharptown High’s older team finished number 22 in the 100-team competition. Rankings are only announced for the top 25 teams.

Last year, Tharptown’s team took home the top prize at the national finals. They have placed in the top 10 four times, including a second-place finish in 2023. Tharptown High has sent a team to the national finals seven times since the program started in 2018.

This year’s team members include Adrionna Ashley, Isabella Hall, Frank Gutierrez, Angel Garcia, Angie Chavez, Shyla Martinez Duarte, Kylee Beard, Sofia Lucas Padilla, Breana Amaro, Joshua Bahena, Gerardo Bahena and Cesar Rueda.

Team members Lucas and Amaro expressed gratitude for the help they received from everyone along the way.

“At first, I thought it would be more difficult than it was,” said Lucas, “but making it to nationals just shows me that we could do it.”

Amaro said she was scared at first because she didn’t understand exactly what it would be like.

“By participating, I was able to see that it’s not so bad,” she said. “It’s fun.”

Tharptown High’s rocketry team sponsor Areanna Orozco said she’s “extremely proud” of both teams.

“They’ve worked hard around all of their responsibilities to make the most of this season,” Orozco said. “The older team stepped up and helped teach the new team how everything works without even batting an eyelash. They’re truly just selfless young adults.”

CONTRIBUTRED/AREANNA OROZCO Shown are members of the Tharptown High School rocketry teams. Students in pink shirts are members of Team 1, those in purple shirts are members of Team 2. From left, Adrionna Ashley, Isabella Hall, Frank Gutierrez, Angel Garcia, Angie Chavez, Shyla Martinez Duarte, Kylee Beard, Sofia Lucas Padilla, Breana Amaro, Joshua Bahena, Gerardo Bahena and Cesar Rueda.