Big Red Rocketry Places 11th at 2021 TARC Nationals

Lawrenceville’s Big Red Rocketry team placed eleventh overall at the 2021 Team American Rocketry (TARC) National Championship - the world’s largest rocketry contest - and took first in TARC’s Most Imaginative Costume competition. Lawrenceville was among 615 teams from 46 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to compete - and was the only New Jersey team to qualify for nationals. The TARC finals were held at ten sites around the U.S. and Big Red won Best at Launch Site for its performance in Syracuse, N.Y.

First launched in 2002, the competition challenges middle and high school students to design, build, and fly a rocket that meets rigorous altitude and flight duration parameters through a series of certified, qualifying launches. Now in its 19th year, TARC has become the aerospace and defense industry's flagship program designed to encourage students to pursue studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

The team has been designing, simulating, and building rockets throughout the School year. Their mission for finals involved two flights: one to 775 feet in 39-42 seconds and the second to 825 feet in 41-44 seconds. Team Co-President Maddy Laws ‘23 reported, “On our first flight we flew 762 feet and just half a second over (the time requirement). The score on that flight was 15.34 (lower is better). Our second flight was 816 feet, but our rocket came down a bit too fast (and we had) a final score of 11.2 for that flight. Together, we had a score of 26.54, which was only three points away from (scoring in) the top five.”

Led by faculty advisors Mary Calvert (science teacher) and David Laws (science and mathematics teacher), Big Red Rocketry team members are co-presidents Maddy Laws and Christabelle Sutter ’23, plus team members Ollie Chiu ’23, Jack Chou ’23, Aryana Deshpande ’24, Roma Kale ’23, Noah Laubach ’23, and Amanda Park ‘23.

"I'm thrilled with the team's performance, particularly winning best at our launch site. Having ten different launch sites around the country due to COVID meant different launch conditions, some more favorable than others,” said Dave Laws. “At Syracuse, the team had to deal with a stiff breeze, stronger around the rocket's apogee. The fact that we came out ahead of the other teams at the Syracuse launch site dealing with the same launch conditions is a testament to the team's preparation and simulation adjustments just prior to the two flights."

For additional information, please contact Lisa M. Gillard Hanson, director of Public Relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.