Clarence Team Wins Regional Rocketry Competition

As they finished as the top performing team in a regional rocket competition, members of Clarence High School’s Rocket Team are excited to point their aspirations even higher and compete at the national level. 

A Clarence team finished first at the Moog Regional Rocketry Competition on October 18, which brought together more than 100 students from a dozen schools to launch rockets at the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo.

“It’s really exciting,” said Ellen Weiss, a senior who serves as the team’s president. “We’ve been so close for a couple of years, and it’s great to make it to the top.”

Teams were scored on their ability to launch their rockets to 750 feet in altitude, with a launch time within 36 to 39 seconds. The winning Clarence team finished with their rocket hitting 742 feet, and a total launch of 41 seconds. 

“We weren’t expecting to be so close,” Ellen said. “We went and saw the altitude reading, and we were saying, ‘Whoa, we were really close.’” 

Making up the winning Clarence team were Weiss, Addison Terhaar, Anna Girard, Morgan Oddy, Emma Davignon, Addison Long, Reagan Girard, Brennan Crahen, Leo Bodensteiner, Charles Hahn, Owen Zdrojewski, Kellen Weiss, Aiden Eashak, Lucas McLaughlin and Ryan Redford. A second team from Clarence finished tenth.

“It was really good to see,” said Thomas Maroney, a Clarence High School engineering teacher who serves as the team’s coach. “They did really really well.” 

The Rocket Team has seen great growth for the 2025-26 school year, with about two dozen members now making up the team. Work to prepare for the Geneseo competition began from the first week of classes, with upperclassmen walking new members through the design, simulation and rocket building process.

Despite the team’s success, the students’ work is far from over. Team members now plan to build on their work to put together a launch score that would qualify for the American Rocketry Challenge. A Clarence team finished 48th at the national competition in 2024. 

“It definitely helps that we’re very close,” Ellen said. “We’re excited to get working and figure it out.”