The Greenville High School Robowranglers (Team 148) won the Gold Medal at the first UIL State Championship Contest in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), held at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Tex. This is the first time that Greenville ISD has won a state level UIL event in many years.

The inaugural UIL Robotics pilot program began during the 2015-2016 school year. The state competition, comprised of 42 teams, was by invitation only based on the criteria of past performance in the national FIRST Robotics competitions.

Team members include Will Adel, Coleman Avants, Alex Bahm, Martin Castillo, Zach Cody, Kaden Denuyl, Hannah Escobedo, Bre Evans, Kaylea Evans, Koltin Evans, Hunter Hooten, Gavin Jordan, Yeonsoo Jung, Ethan King, Madison Kroncke, Jordan Mabrie, Ethan McGee, Brett Ozarowski, Carlos Riveroll, Logan Row, Nick Ruprecht, Austin Sanders, Aidan Smith, Katie Tolly, Reese Tubbs, Kacie Weeks. Graduates that were ineligible to attend but worked hard during the school year to make the team successful. Andrew Walker, William Powell, Caleb Larsen, Kritika Gautam, Rachel Doby, Aaron Coyle, Kelsey Baldwin, Stefanie Anthony. Rookie Members that attended: Joshua Allen, Francisca Gutierrez.School coaches include George Kroncke and Adrienne Emerson. Volunteer Mentors include Grant Cox, Art Dutra, Adam Freeman, Katie Kroncke, Jessi Knerr, Dan Mantz ,Ricky Quinones, Dillon Row, James Tonthat, Jay Trzaskos, John V-Neun, David Evans, John Hodapp, Eric Larsen, Justin Griggs, Monty Wineinger, Kevin Morris, and Adam Risley.

After qualification matches, the Robowranglers were 9 and 0 and ranked second seed. The team was picked by the number one seed, the Robonauts (Team 118) from Clear Creek ISD. Other teams on the winning alliance were team 5242 from Woodrow Wilson High School, and Team 5726 from San Antonio. Especially impressive was the fact that the drive team, though veteran Robowranglers, were completely new to driving the robot.

“It was an honor to attend the inaugural UIL event in Austin and we’re humbled to win the competitive event,” said George Kroncke, a Robowranglers coach.  “I was very proud of the students and their ability to learn how to drive the robot in such a short amount of time,” he continued.

Additionally, the Robowranglers have been invited to appear, live, on Good Day on FOX 4 on Wednesday, Aug. 3, at 8:20 a.m. Students attending include Katie Tolly and Kolton Evans.

The Robowranglers will next compete in Beijing, China in the Chinese Urban Youth Robotic League (CUYRA) competition.

The FIRST Robotics program at Greenville ISD is a successful part of the STEM academy, formed in 2007. For more information about FIRST Robotics at Greenville High School, contact Director of Robotics, Adrienne Emerson at emersona@greenvilleisd.com.