The Millburn High School robotics team didn't start off strong, but after four days of competing, with a robot that shot balls at targets, the 11-member team took the top prize in the VEX Robotics World Championship in Kentucky.

Bryan Levine, the senior captain of the Essex County school team, said his group lost the first two of the 11 rounds of competition but rallied to win eight of the next nine for the top spot. It's the first New Jersey team to win the international competition.

"We couldn't believe that it was actually our name being called on that big screen right as it was being announced. That was amazing," Levine said after Saturday's win.

The 7405P Millburn Phreak Show team paired with a team from a school in Shanghai, China, to win two of three matches over a joint team composed of Shanghai and Beijing competitors. More than 30,000 competitors in 1,650 teams converged in Louisville for the contest.

The win was an "out-of-body experience," said Millburn High School teacher and robotics coach David Farrell.

"It's just beyond description," he said. "It's just a testament to the community here, the effort these kids put in and how well they worked together."

Other New Jersey teams hailed from Sparta, Cherry Hill and South Brunswick. The international competition also included teams from Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico.

Two other teams from China and one from Hartford, Connecticut, were named champions in other sections of the competition.

The Millburn team won with an 18-15 edge over the next team in the Turning Point competition, where robots have to shoot balls at targets known as flags.

To get to the final round, the team had to go through four days of competitions and 11 initial rounds. The Millburn team lost in the first two rounds on the first day, but won eight of the next nine rounds.

"After all the hard work, it actually all paid off as we came out No. 1 out of all these teams from all over the place," Levine said.

Hilton Seibert, a 2003 alumnus who teaches at the school and helped coach this year's team, said it was "surreal" to witness the final outcome.

"I'm standing up, I can hardly breathe, I'm waiting to see what the score is," Seibert said. "It comes up, we win 18-15. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life."

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com

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