The Grand Grizzlies robotics team from Grand Avenue Middle School earned a spot in the 2026 Southern New York VEX IQ Middle School State Championships, held March 15 at Adelphi University.
The team secured its invitation after strong performances in recent tournaments, finishing fifth and eighth and advancing to the final rounds. By consistently ranking in the top 10, the Grand Grizzlies qualified to compete among the region’s best robotics teams at the state championship.
This season’s robot represents the fourth design iteration, showcasing the dedication, creativity and perseverance of the student engineers. Team members include Luke Matchekosky, Grayden Urtheil, Seth Bachrach, Scarlet Yin and Lucas DiPasquale, who refined the robot’s design and performance throughout the season under the guidance of faculty advisor Michelle Biancardo.
The team’s efforts extended beyond the robot itself, including a detailed engineering notebook, custom team apparel and advanced robot features developed over months of collaboration and testing.
“We had the best organization this year, a custom t-shirt, great engineer’s notebook, and next-level robot design for the autonomous challenge, and it was the first time we were able to use the pneumatics kit purchased by the tech department,” Biancardo said.
The Grand Grizzlies are among several Long Island teams competing at the state level, highlighting the region’s growing presence in middle school robotics competitions.
Meanwhile, students from Grand Avenue’s Science Research Program earned top honors at the Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge Science and Engineering Fair.
On March 12, eight teams from Grand Avenue traveled to Crest Hollow Country Club to compete against teams representing 16 middle schools from across Long Island.
Hailey Hecht and Elizabeth Ziegler took first place for their project, “Which brand of hyaluronic acid, CVS brand or CeraVe, is most effective at increasing the regeneration rate of Dugesia tigrina?” With their win, the pair is eligible to compete in the national Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge.
Two teams earned second-place honors. Katie Lin and Sarah Wu presented “How does Streptomyces griseus and Rhizobium leguminosarum affect the plant growth of Pisum sativum?” Meanwhile, James Mao, Osague Ogbahan and Scarlet Yin placed second for their project, “What is the effect of neodymium magnets on the magnetoreception of Drosophila melanogaster?”
Additional recognition went to Daniel Pilott, who received an honorable mention for his solo project, “What is the effect of aluminum sulfate octadecahydrate on the growth and regeneration of Dugesia tigrina?” Another honorable mention was awarded to Eftihios Bakaloudis, Luciano DeMarino and Michael Wu for their project, “How do synthetic fertilizers such as Miracle-Gro versus organic fertilizers such as Dr. Earth affect the growth of Ocimum basilicum, also known as Genovese basil?”
The Grand Avenue Science Research team conducts its experiments under the guidance of science teacher Tami Cruz. Students will next showcase their work at the Long Island Science Congress on April 20.
