RIT Baja Racing finishes in top 10 at national off-road competition
Race team aces maneuverability and endurance race events among 102 international collegiate teams
Carlos Ortiz/RIT
Cole Fenton sped through the maneuverability event at Baja SAE New York and helped RIT Racing take ninth place overall among 102 international collegiate race teams.
Cole Fenton wowed the crowd as he sped across, over and around the tricky maneuverability track—mostly on three, and sometimes two wheels of the RIT Baja racecar.
Fenton ’26 BS/ME (mechanical engineering) from Vermont, helped RIT Baja Racing take ninth place overall among 102 international collegiate race teams during the competition at Hogback Hill Motorcross site June 11-14.
Carlos Ortiz/RIT
RIT team member Sydney Partee prepares for her acceleration event with teammate William Crocker.
More than 1,800 student-engineers from universities in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Mexico designed and built off-road vehicles for the Baja SAE New York competition that tests their engineering skills and teamwork as much as their driving skills.
“Cole three-wheeled it; it was beautiful,” said Miles Tallia, his teammate, about the exciting 54-second run that put Fenton in second place in one of the four dynamic events at Baja New York.
Fenton and Tallia were among nearly 40 students on the RIT team that had top 10 placements in design, cost and business events. Its highest placement in the dynamic events was in maneuverability followed by top 20 placements in acceleration, suspension and traction, and the four-hour endurance race at the end of the weekend.
Competitions simulate real-world engineering design projects in which students build off-road vehicles that should survive the severe punishment of rough terrain—hill and rock climbs—and in the event of challenges, solve problems in real-time.
“The event is not only a competition for best car design and endurance but an opportunity for companies to recruit prospective co-ops or interns as well as employees,” said Steve Skurski ’15 (mechanical engineering technology), one of Baja SAE New York’s co-organizers with Andrew Beckmann ’15 (mechanical engineering). “This continues a long tradition of Baja alumni giving back to the series that jump-started their careers.”
Provided
The RIT Baja team competed in May in Oregon, placing third overall. While there, the graduating seniors on the team missed RIT’s graduation but were celebrated by teammates in a special ceremony. From left to right are James Snyder, Anthony Guglielmo, Michael Sanza, Josh Rodrique, Sydney Partee, Cole Fenton, and Adrian Ricketts.
Skurski, currently a development engineer for The Raymond Corp., was RIT Baja team manager for the 2014-2015 season and participated on the planning team for the regional event since graduation.
The RIT racecar had few challenges over the weekend of the competition and worked to tweak different systems to adjust the racecar’s performance during the different events.
“Our biggest strengths are human power and tool power. This is a learning opportunity as much as a great event,” said Tallia, a fourth-year software engineering student from Brooklyn, N.Y. “We are able to take innovative, sometimes crazy ideas —and they work. My college career wouldn’t be the same without Baja.”
Baja SAE events have been held across the country each year since 1976. The organization is celebrating its golden anniversary throughout 2026, and competitions are taking place for this season in Oregon, New York and, later in the fall, in Ohio. Learn more about the top 10 teams overall at Baja SAE New York.
