B-P, Saratoga rocketry teams fall short at national finals

Broadalbin-Perth students, from left, Jared Eipp, Lexi Eipp and Celina Onzo retrieve rockets after a test launch.

Two teams from Broadalbin-Perth High School fell short of their sky-high goals Saturday at the Team America Rocketry Challenge final fly-off in Virginia.

The teams, along with a team from Saratoga Springs High School, competed against 100 other teams from schools across the country in a model rocketry competition with a prize pool of $100,000 for the top 10 teams.

Unfortunately, all three local teams came up short. The Saratoga Springs team tied for 57th with an altitude of 838 feet in 51 seconds for a total of 51.2 points. The Broadalbin-Perth teams garnered 51.6 points and 41.88 points, not enough to crack the top 10.

A Broadalbin-Perth team came in second last year, winning $11,500.

Students were rated on how close their rockets came to reaching 800 feet, landing within 46 to 48 seconds and carrying a raw egg payload without any damage. Each foot or second off earned a team one point, and the team with the fewest points won.

The students from last year’s second-place Broadalbin-Perth team graduated, but the two teams from the district that qualified this year felt they had a good shot after some promising test flights.

“We’re better than last year,” teacher and rocketry co-advisor William Eipp said before the competition, “but you can never guarantee what will happen.”