After three years of dormancy and one year of rebuilding, the Seahawks Robotics Team has placed 2nd at their recent Qualifier in DC. They also won several awards for their outreach efforts to the community and their team spirit during the event.
After working for two months designing, building, and programming, the team successfully made their robot to complete several tasks for the FIRST League’s game this year, called into the Deep. Leading up to the competition, the builders were under a lot of pressure to get it done in time and with little error. Senior Andrew Wood helped lead the build team, and said the team was very stressed in the lead up.
“[We] were very, very, very stressed, because nothing seemed to be working and the timeline estimates were constantly changing,” Wood said.
While stressed, the team was also extremely excited in the leadup to the competition, as the events are always a great way to build team spirit and meet other teams.
“They’re so fun and such a fun opportunity for the whole club, I was excited” Junior Rosa Golac said.
The FIRST Tech Challenge competitions works in a 2v2 format, with the playoffs giving the six highest seeded teams a choice of a partner (making an ‘alliance’) after a day of qualifying matches. Luckily, after a successful day of matches and placing 11th out of 24 overall, the Seahawks were picked to team up with the 4th placed team, Kettle 4 The Medal. Together, they moved through the playoff bracket up to the semifinals, where they were taken out by the 1st seeded alliance. However, due to the double elimination format, the Seahawks came back to compete against the same team in the final match, losing 122-149.
Besides the main placements, the competition also gives out awards to teams for things like creativity, community outreach, and presentation of their team. The Seahawks won the Motivate Award this year for their outreach efforts through their STEM summer camp, and their team spirit during the event. Additionally, the team also won the only upset match during the playoffs bracket, winning 104-102 over the 2nd ranked alliance.
Starting at 7AM and ending just after 5PM, the competition was a long day for the team, but they felt accomplished.
“I felt proud of the team, I thought everyone put in a whole lot of effort. I really felt like everyone contributed to something, and that was proven by how well our bot did” Junior Rosa Golac said.
“I was so exhausted, it was a long day but I was also really happy,” Junior Jackson Cariaga said.
After a stressful first competition, and excellent results, Rosa had one message for those who see our success: “Join robotics!”
