Aiden Hill -Mustangs Ahead
(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL) - Lakewood Ranch High School (LRHS) Technology Student Association (TSA) students enjoyed great success at TSA State Conference.
The annual competition took place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel at the Entrance to Universal Orlando from March 25-28. LRHS students competed in over 30 events, including Animatronics, Drone Challenge, and Webmaster.
LRHS placed top 10 in 22 events and top three in six events. Highlights included placing first in digital video production (Vaibhav Akkinepally, Alexander Hong, Paul Jordan, Cooper Kelly, Kaden Oda, Rishi Thakker), webmaster, where students create a website to fit a certain theme (Max Alpert, Zachariah Kersey, Colton McGill, Gavin Moore, Selma Onus, Evan Repo‑Apostle), and first in coding (Kersey, Moore), where students participate in a coding challenge.
Other significant events included Animatronics, where students built a working animatronic of Betsy Ross; Fashion Design, where students created a villain-era dress with functioning wings; and Children's Stories, where students built a die-cut children’s book about Sunita Williams, a female astronaut.
Stay updated on more LRHS news by following us on Facebook, Instagram @mustangs_ahead, YouTube or follow the Mustangs Ahead Podcast on Spotify
LRHS had the second most semifinalists of any high school. These results continue the trend of improvement that LRHS TSA has had in recent years.
This was the first state competition since LRHS TSA Adviser Benjamin Long returned after several years hiatus. He said about the competition, “Overall I am very proud of this officer team for implementing so many changes in our chapter. The hard work of our members really paid off.”
LRHS TSA President Colton McGill was voted Florida TSA State Reporter, marking the first time a LRHS student has held TSA state office since 2023-2024.
Colton reflected on the chapter's results, “I am extremely proud of all the amazing work our members achieved this year. Although we have a few setbacks in the year we have managed to rank the highest we have in seven years. I can not wait to see all of the amazing work our new officer team will accomplish as we continue to develop.”
Anyone interested in joining LRHS TSA can join at the beginning of the 2026-2027 school year. TSA students are given the chance to work on ambitious design and technology projects and compete at the regional, state, and national levels.