The Winters Robotics Club (WRC) was turning gears and winning gold at the competition it hosted last weekend, Oct. 22–23. Although it squared off against experienced teams from bigger schools, the WRC made its presence felt in this techno-showdown.
Twenty-eight teams from around Northern California assembled at the Young Gymnasium early Saturday morning to kick off the high school division of the robotics competition. The opposition included the likes of Redding, Corning, Granite Bay, Fairfield, Oakland, Santa Clara, San Jose and more, with each eager to claim victory. Wherever they came from, however, the WRC teams were more than ready to take them on.
“On Saturday, we had six teams from the Intro to Engineering class and another six teams from our competitive club. Everything went smoothly and (the) competition ended around 5 o’clock on Saturday. The winners were one of the teams from Granite Bay and another one from Oakland,” explained WRC coach Dianne Halsey. “The high school team made it to the semi-finals. It’s a one-match elimination and they did pretty well. A lot of our teams made the playoffs which was kind of cool. Also, our Music Boosters did food on Saturday and our culinary program did donuts in the morning.”
The competition picked back up bright and early on Sunday for the middle school division.
“The high schoolers were more relaxed on Sunday because they got to work, ref, and coach the kids in the middle school tournament,” said Halsey. “Our team did not have a highly sophisticated robot, but Augie Nelson’s driving skills with the high schoolers’ coaching, he was able to go defense to offense and confuse those other teams. We were ranked third going into the playoffs, so the first and second ranks allied and the third and fourth teams allied, too.”
The winning middle school squad was comprised of August Nelson, Holly Selleck and Andrew Coleman. They now rank 18th in the State
Sunday was not just competition day, but a Senior Capstone Project for Jack Bryant and Diego Rodriguez. While they planned and facilitated, Liliana Rodriguez was taking part in her own Senior Capstone by recycling the VEX robotics equipment.
After a successful weekend, the WRC will be looking forward to competing again in Placerville on Nov. 13.
For more information, email WRC at wintersrobotics@gmail.com.
