Making Harvey History at VEX Robotics Competition in Katonah

Robot Skills Award Goes to Harvey Team

The Harvey School’s robotics team was recognized for excellence Saturday, Feb. 18, at the VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) hosted by the Katonah school. Harvey’s RoboCavs finished second in the regional competition featuring 36 schools from the Northeast, but one of its teams, comprised of seniors Jarrod Waner of North Salem and Chinese international student Janice Cai, won the prestigious Robot Skills Award.

“We made Harvey history,” said the RoboCavs coach Chris Kelly. “This is the first time we won for Robot Skills. Our team members stayed up to all hours of the night working on their robots.” Harvey added to its list of merits with three of the team’s robots ranking in the top 10, with two finishing in the top five.

In addition to winning the skills trophy at their own hosted event and a design award at their first competition in the fall, Harvey teams have captured six of the eight championship tournaments they have entered this year. “Overall, we are doing very well,” said Waner who has participated in Harvey’s robotics program since his sophomore year.

Five Harvey teams have qualified to compete in the state championships March 4 at the 2017 VEXIQ Southern New York State Championship in Massapequa, New York.

This was the second year Harvey hosted the VEX VRC. Local schools competing in the all-day event held in the Fenstermacher Athletic Center included Byram Hills High School in Armonk, Kennedy Catholic in Somers, Rye Country Day and The Masters School of Dobbs Ferry, the eventual tournament champion. Other schools competing came from New York City, Long Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Photo credit: Abby Luby