Saturday, February 12, at University Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, the two GW Community School/Coyote Robotics Teams competed in a field the top 48 teams in Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Saturday, February 12, at University Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, the two GW Community School/Coyote Robotics Teams competed in a field the top 48 teams in Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.  Competing in separate 24-team divisions, Team 965 “Aluminum Falcon” and Team 3749 “Guilty Spark”, competed strongly in their qualifying matches, finishing ranked 4^th and 6^th respectively.

Team 3749, consisting of first-year participants Eric Kramer (Captain), Ian Doten, Matt Apostolico and Richie Catherina, were inviteundefinedd by the 3^rd-seeded alliance leader to join their alliance for the elimination rounds.  Unfortunately, despite offering tough competition, the failed to advance beyond the division semi-finals.

Team 965, consisting of second-year participants Josh Barton (Captain) and Anne Marie McDonald, along with first year participants Matthew Firsching, Max Doyle and Matthew Gaughan, lead the 3^rd-seeded alliance in their division, inviting two other strong teams to join them for the elimination rounds.  In an exciting and very competitive best-of-three contest (that went to a 4^th match after a tie in the 3^rd!), their alliance won to advance to the division finals.  There they fell to a strong 1^st-seeded alliance containing the two top qualifiers in the division.  All in all, an exceptional showing from two teams with only limited experience against many teams with much more experience, size and support.  One team at the competition was larger than the entire enrollment of GW Community School and Coyote Robotics combined!

The teams were also encouraged and cheered-on by Joseph Esposito, a 2010 graduate of GWCS and Past President of Coyote Robotics, now a freshman Computer Engineering student at the University of Virginia.  Joseph was with us Friday evening and all day Saturday.  It was great to see him and talk to him and the students got to talk to him about his experiences in Coyote Robotics and at UVA.

Special thanks to Mr. Dana Doten, a new Coyote Robotics Mentor Director, who stepped in to coach Team 3749 (thus sparing me the exhausting experience of last year, rushing up the stands, over to the other side, and down again to coach two teams competing almost simultaneously!)  Thanks also to Assistant Coach Ms. Lisa Bowen, who coordinated the travel arrangements and made sure we all got to where we needed to be and got fed during meal times.  Thanks as well go to Mr. and Mrs. Kramer, Mrs. Firsching, and Mr. Doten who drove us, our robots, and all of our stuff down to Charlottesville Friday afternoon, as well as Mrs. Barton, Mrs. McDonald, Mrs. Doyle, Mrs. Apostolico, Mrs. Gaughan and Mrs. Lindner who all drove down on Saturday to cheer us on!  And thanks also to our great kids who demonstrated Gracious Professionalism, Grace Under Pressure, Friendliness, Appreciation, Smarts and Stamina during this and previous events this season.

This probably concludes the competition part of our season, a very successful season bringing home three trophies and a plaque.  But we will continue to be active the rest of the school year helping other teams, learning more about robotics, giving demonstrations at other schools, raising money, and having fun.  Go Coyotes!

Gary T. Lindner

GWCS/Coyote Robotics Coach

FTC 965 Aluminum Falcon

FTC 3749 Guilty Spark