RVRHS FIRST Robotics
Team #87
Our STORY
We strive to bring together the creativity of our team members with the discipline of engineering. Team #87 leverages the opportunities provided by FIRST to introduce our members to the world of STEM. Founded in 1997 by Mr. Wayne “Schmitty” Smith, a shop teacher at Rancocas Valley Regional High School, and Mr. Ron MacIntosh, an RVRHS Technology Education teacher, our team has designed and fabricated robots for the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) for 25 years!
At the start of the 2000 school year, Mr. John Jeffries, an Earth Science teacher, took leadership of the team. In 2003, Mr. Harvey Hans, an engineering teacher, and Mr. Don Arter, a graphic arts teacher, became the team advisors. Mr. Hans assumed the role as the team’s sole advisor during the 2006 school year until his retirement in 2021. English teacher, Mrs. Mary Ellen Panter and Science & Technology Supervisor, Dr. Ronald Maniglia have served as co-advisors since 2021.
Mr. McIntosh replaced Mrs. Panter as co-advisor in 2024.
The Rancocas Valley Regional High School District, a forward-thinking learning institution, empowers every student with the knowledge and skills to be a contributing member of the community by providing meaningful curricular and extracurricular experiences. We believe that "FIRST is the varsity sport of the mind". We encourage our team members to develop STEM-related knowledge and skills in becoming the next generation of innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs. Go Diablo!
2023 Season
We are very proud of Team 87 Diablo. We ended the qualifying matches in 9th place at the Seneca HS competition making us one of the ten captains to select from the remaining teams for the playoff alliances. At Robbinsville we were the chosen rather than the one making the choices.
Our alliance placed 4th in the playoffs.
Unfortunately, we were eliminated with our alliance early on in the playoffs at Seneca. Considering we never thought we would have made it this far as a team, having never competed in person, we have no regrets, just great memories.
Our final ranking was 52 of 150 teams in the FIRST Mid-Atlantic District. We placed 19 out of 31 teams at Robbinsville followed by 9 out of 31 teams competing at Seneca in the qualifying matches.
Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
