GREENVILLE, TEX.--Eight Greenville Middle School VEX Robotics teams competed in the North Texas VEX Skyrise Regional Championship – Middle School Division at Greenville High School this past Saturday. This tournament crowns State Champions and qualifies teams for the 2015 VEX Robotics World Championship -Middle School Division in Louisville, KN beginning April 15th.
Seven of the eight Gigabots teams entered qualified for the Elimination Rounds, four of which made it to the finals. At the end of the day, the Gigabots left with nine awards.
Gigabots Coach Orion Casper said “The students were ready to go into this tournament to compete at the highest level and it showed. I am truly proud of their accomplishments at the first ever North Texas Middle School Regional Tournament. I am looking forward to seeing what they can do as we advance to the US Open Championship and then to the VEX World Championship.”
Gigabots team 2148A, comprised of Jordan Frimpter, Trenton Burns, Austin Burns, Tessa Mitchell and Yeonsoo Jung, finished the qualification rounds undefeated in first place and lost only one match en-route to becoming state, and tournament, champions. They received the Excellence Award, the highest award presented in the VEX Robotics Competition. The recipient of this award is a team that exemplifies overall excellence in building a well-rounded VEX robotics program. Winning the Excellence Award qualifies them for the 2015 VEX Robotics World Championship. They were also named as the Programming Skills Champion and Robot Skills Champion. 2148A won a total of 4 awards on Saturday.
Gigabots team 2148C, made up of Pierce Thurmond, Javier Littlefield, Ethan McGee, and Brett Ozarowski, finished the qualification rounds in ninth place and joined 2148A to become state, and tournament, champions. Team 3310B from Rockwall Heath Middle School was the third member of this alliance.
Gigabots team 2148E, whose members are Dallas Davies, Nick Stromberg, Kian Smith, Cheyenne Saling, and Heaven Phillips, finished the qualification rounds in sixth place. They joined the number three alliance to finish as tournament finalists (second place). They also won the Think Award, which is presented to a team that has successfully utilized autonomous programming modes during competition.
Gigabots team 2148F, comprised of Romeo Gomez, Henri Haxiaj, Ethan Winters, Neil Smith, and Rodey Wiggins, finished the qualification rounds in eleventh place. They joined 2148E to become the tournament finalists (second place). Team 3310A from Rockwall Heath Middle School was the third member of this alliance.
Gigabots team 2148G, whose members are Hannah Cowgill, Kamden Priest, Kylie Locke, Reese Tubbs, and Wyatt Spivey, were given the Judges Award. This award is goes to a team the judges decide is deserving of special recognition.
Gigabots team 2148B, comprised of Alysia Martinez, Joshua Ross, Daniel Uglade, and Francisca Gutierrez, finished the qualification rounds in fifteenth place and joined the number four alliance with Gigabots 2148D Noah Stone, Faith Clayton, Corbin Hudgins, and Brady Diggs who completed the qualifications rounds in seventeenth place. This alliance was a semifinalist. The alliance captain was Team 8909A from McKamy Middle School in Flower Mound.
Gigabots team 2148J, made up of Alex Portillo, Brandon LeBlanc, Nic Russell, and Joshua Allen, finished the qualification rounds in fifth place. They joined the number two alliance which ended the tournament in the semi-finals. Team 9084 and 9084B from Richardson West Junior High were the other members of this alliance.
The Gigabots teams 2148A, 2418C, 2148D and 2148E, next travel to Omaha, Nebraska on April 7th – 9th to compete in the CREATE U. S. Open Championship – VEX Middle School Division. There they will compete with 61 teams from across the United States to determine the National Champion.
For more information about the Greenville Middle School Robotics Programs and Pre-Stem education, please contact Johnny Tharp at tharpjr@greenvilleisd.com.
