Coyote Robotics is proud to announce a very successful participation in yesterday’s FIRST Tech Challenge Virginia Regional Championship Tournament. Our two teams, #965 Murphy’s Law and #3749 Lambkins had unquestionably two of the best robots out of a field of 38.

Murphy’s Law (965) was ranked in 2nd place in their division after finishing 5-2-0 in the qualifying rounds. They advanced to the division finals, but fell in a close battle, partly the result of an untimely communications failure between their computer and their robot.

The Lambkins (3749) were ranked 3rd in their division after finishing 6-1-0 in the qualifying rounds, and in the only match they lost they were unable to compete when their computer and robot lost communications. They we chosen by the #1 ranked team as their alliance partner for the play-offs, breezed into the division finals, won the division in a close 3-game match, and triumphed in two straight close games to emerge in the Championship Alliance with a team from Maryland which was actually just a family (Engineer Dad, Computer Scientist Mom, and 4 kids, with the oldest being 15.) They finished 12-2-0 for the tournament, and are likely to receive an invitation to the World Championships in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta April 14-17.

We thank our alliance partners, #2843 Under the Son from Spangler Software and Incredibles Robotics in Hollywood, MD and #93 Blue Cheese Jr. from Deep Run High School in Glen Allen, VA.

The field included 26 schools and 4 non-school groups. Three other schools (including Oakton H.S.) fielded 3 teams each, but we were the only school with more than one team in the play-offs. Our kids worked hard, competed hard, communicated and counseled beautifully with their alliance partners and the judges, and represented the GW Community School in an outstanding fashion.