tvc.dsj.org | May 23, 2017
CATHOLIC
SCHOOLS
Bellarmine Robotics Team World Champions
The Bellarmine College Preparatory
FIRST Robotics Team 254, “The Cheesy
Poofs,” claimed victory in the World
Championships of Robotics, the third
time the team has achieved the top prize
in the past six years. The competition
was held April 26-29 at the Edward
Jones Dome at St. Louis, Missouri, with
36 Bellarmine students participating in
the tournament.
Bellarmine’s Team 254 previously
won the World Championships of FIRST
in 2011 and 2014. The most recent win
was achieved working with Team 254 al-
liance partners Team 2767: Stryke Force
(from Kalamazoo, Michigan); Team
862: Lightning Robotics (from Canton,
Michigan); and Team 1676: The Pascack
PI-oneers (from Montvale, New Jersey).
In addition to the World Champion-
ship, Team 254 earned a Divisional Inno-
vation in Control Award celebrating its
excellence in programming that greatly
contributed to the team’s success.
“We were competing with 407 of
the best teams from around the world
including teams from Canada, France,
the Netherlands, and Taiwan,” noted
Peng Yav, Bellarmine Physics instructor
and robotics team faculty moderator.
“Teams are split into 6 divisions of 68
teams each, where each division oper-
ates like its own mini-tournament with
qualification and elimination matches.
Team 254 first won the division we
were in and then competed against the
winners of the other 5 divisions to take
home the Championship Title.”
Additional Team 254 faculty modera-
tors from Bellarmine are Brad Linde-
mann, Dan Judnick, Sean Monroe, and
Shane Liesegang.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Rec-
ognition of Science and Technology)
was founded in 1989 to inspire young
people’s interest and participation in
science and technology. The not-for-
profit public charity designs accessible,
innovative programs that motivate
young pe