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 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 4th place. Team members were Dallas Davies and Wyatt Spivey. Team 9148B from Carver Elementary made the finals and finished in 6th place. Team members were Antonio Cortez and Jose Badillo. Team 5148B from Crockett Elementary finished in 13th place. Team members were Daniel Ugalde and Enrique Oropesa.