WPI Regional
Written by Sarah Stuart on March 20, 2011
FIRST Team 230, the Gaelhawks had their first official completion of the season this past weekend as they traveled to Worcester, Massachusetts for the WPI Regional. A small group of kids and mentors drove up Thursday morning for the start of practice rounds and to set up the pit. Teams from all over New England were present, as well as teams from Hawaii, Britain, and Brazil. Following the long afternoon of matches was the arrival of the last students, and the team spent the rest of the night bonding and playing games together. Friday was the start of qualification rounds and a day full of scouting. Six weeks of build season had paid off, as the team watched the robot perform exceptionally well. The Gaelhawks were ranked in the top 20 teams by the end of the day, and had also been awarded the Creativity Award sponsored by Xerox. Saturday concluded the qualification matches, and finally, it was time for the selections for the final rounds. Team 230 was selected to be an alliance with FIRST team 121, Rhode Warriors, and FIRST team 3044, OxBE4. They were defeated in the quarterfinals by an alliance of FIRST teams 40, 195, and 2370, who went on to win the WPI Regional. Although the Gaelhawks may not have succeeded in winning the competition, they were able to work well as a team, and hope to accomplish even more at their next competition on March 31.
