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GISD Robotics Teams Earn Top Honors at World Competitions

The FIRST Robotics World Championship was held this past weekend in St. Louis, Missouri. Out of over 2,500 teams around the world, only 400 teams qualified for the event. The Greenville High School Robowranglers were one of the distinct few who qualified by winning the Lone Star Regional in Houston, TX and the Dallas Regional in Dallas, TX. At the World Championship, the Robowranglers finished six and two in the qualification rounds and earned the 15th seed in their division of 100. The GHS team was selected by the number one ranked team, the Citrus Circuits from California, who paired to choose the Lightening Robotics from Michigan. Fighting tough battles through the eliminations and winning the best two out of three matches in the semifinals by just 14 combined points, the Robowranglers toughed it out to become the division champions for the first time since 2008.

The Robowranglers competed against the three other divisional winners and were ultimately named third place finishers at the World Championship event. This designation places them in the top .5% of teams in the world this year! The Robowranglers also boast the highest score earned at the World Championship. The Robowranglers are sponsored by Innovation First International, L3 Mission Integration and Greenville ISD. Team members are Reid Robins, Caleb Larsen, Caleb Horton, Caleb Bryan, Jose Enriquez, Cecilia Orsornio, Randy Larsen, Austin Baldwin, Landon Moser, Josh English, Kaci Porter, Elizabeth Hill, Alyssa Ruprecht, Anna Morgan, Jonathan McClellen, John Wensel, Katy Dewberry, Justin Mumphrey, Rachel Doby, Riley Weeks, Geovanni Vesquez, Jimmy Vaughn, Stefanie Anthoney, Kelsey Baldwin, David Aly, Devin Seims, Luke Follett, Bryan Chachon and William Powell.

The Robowrangler win comes just weeks after Bowie Elementary harvested third place at the VEX World Championship. Thirty-six students, coaches and mentors from the Greenville High School, Greenville Middle School and all five GISD elementary schools attended the VEX World Championship in Anaheim, California last week. Bowie Elementary won third place and received the “Elementary Design Award.”

Team 6148A from Bowie Elementary earned the third place trophy in the tournament. Team members were Hendrix Herrin and Nick Stromberg. Ms. Lori Shaw, Bowie Bulldog Coach stated, “I am very proud of my teams. We all worked very hard to get ready for the competition and all of our hard work paid off.”

Team 6148B from Bowie Elementary earned the “Elementary Design Award.” This award is given to the elementary team with a professional design approach and submits an engineering notebook. Team members were Heaven Phillips and Corbin Hudgins. Bowie coach Kelly Walker stated, "The kids worked so hard and their competitive spirit is inspiring! It is amazing how well they did under pressure. They are true problem solvers."

Team 8148A from Lamar Elementary almost won a trophy finishing in 4^th place. Team members were Dallas Davies and Wyatt Spivey. Team 9148B from Carver Elementary made the finals and finished in 6^th place. Team members were Antonio Cortez and Jose Badillo. Team 5148B from Crockett Elementary finished in 13^th place. Team members were Daniel Ugalde and Enrique Oropesa.

Elementary students attending were Francisca Gutierrez, Haley Lovan, Rocky Barton and Jose Quintero from Travis Elementary, Noah Stone and Jackson Talmage from Lamar Elementary, Kylie Locke and Luis Ugalde from Crockett Elementary, and Jennifer Castillo and Maddison Hill from Carver Elementary.