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GHS Robotics Team Third in National Competition
April 26, 2005
Greenville Herald Banner
By Matt
Mahrer
The
Greenville High School robotics team finished third
out of 85 teams at the 14th National Robotics
Championship held in Atlanta this past weekend.
The
team, also known as the "Robowranglers," competed in
the Georgia Dome against other teams from all over
the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Israel.
"We did
the best our team has done in over five years,
semi's of our division," said senior and robot
co-pilot Beth McClellen.
The "Robowranglers,"
who were ranked in the top 10 consistently
throughout qualifying matches in the Newton
Division, were chosen as a partner team for the
playoffs by "Paradigm Shift" from Pewaukee, Wis. and
"Team 74" from Holland, Fla.
In best
two-out-of-three playoff rounds, the team's alliance
swept the quarterfinal matches and advanced to the
semifinals. The "Robowranglers" won the first
match 67 to 23, but lost the next two in one-point
heartbreak fashion, 37-36 and 9-8.
Students
were mentored by volunteer engineers from L-3
Communications Integrated Systems during the entire
season, from the six-week building process in Jan.
and Feb. to the regional and national competitions
in April.
"The
students designed the robot; the students and
engineers made it work. That is what FIRST
is," added McClellen. "I am definitely proud
to have been a member of this team."
Coaching
the "Robowranglers" are instructors Vanessa Pope and
Terri Galloway from GHS and Johnny Tharp from New
Horizons.
Student
members include seniors Beth McClellen, Matt Mahrer,
Sarah Wright, Drew Roberts, Brian Wight, Justin
Griggs, and Liz Wisdom; juniors Jason Maxwell, Kevin
Morris, Megan Wineinger, Michael Risley, Phillip
Stromberg, Peter Chung, and Amanda Isham; sophomores
Nathan Follett, Justin Tharp, and Lane Gould; and
freshman Logan Marcum.
Engineering mentors are Chris Follett, John Hodapp,
Monty Wineinger, Steve Maxwell, Casey Welch, Adam
Davies, Adam Reppond, and Gabe Cook from L-3 and
Brad Marcum from Sierra Nevada Corporation.
The
team's regional-winning web site, which also
competed at the national level, is located at
http://www.robowranglers.com.
Mahrer is the president of GHS Robotics and student
executive producer for GHS Media. |
