Another high school robotics competition, more awards received by local teams.
The Seymour High School robotics program hosted the Arctic Express Tournament on Feb. 8 at Seymour Middle School.
For the third time this season, SHS Team 31330C earned an award. Leo Holle, Kellan Stanfield and Nikita Cox received the Design Award.
Earlier this season, the team received the Innovate Award at two different tournaments.
“The judges stated that they had clearly organized, effectively demonstrated concepts throughout their notebook. The notebook was maintained throughout the robotics season,” coach Amy Jo Miller Kuzel said in a post on the program’s Facebook page. “This team right here keeps bringing home the awards. This is their third award this year.”
The Midwest Princesses, SHS Team 31330A, consisting of Nicole Ray, Dafne Dominguez, Hannah Baker and Taylor LeBlanc, received the Judges Award.
“Their excitement was contagious,” Miller Kuzel said. “The Judges stated that Team 31330A demonstrated a highly positive attitude and mentoring younger Vex IQ teams. They had a positive attitude in their interview and during competition.”
The girls placed fourth out of 31 teams to advance to the Round of 16. They then battled their way into the quarterfinals, where they ended the day.
“This girl-powered team dominated today,” Miller Kuzel said.
SHS Team 31330D, consisting of Noah Chambers, Micah Yee, Ethan Rubin and Kaeden Leonard, spent the evening before the competition perfecting their program.
During the tournament, they had a high score of 67 and ranked second. They now rank 23rd out of 192 in Indiana for skills.
“Team 31330D is moving up the ranks and closer to their state goal,” Miller Kuzel said. “They achieved their highest scores for driver (38) and autonomous (29) points this season at the Seymour Arctic Express competition here on our home court. Team 31330D is dominating the skills field. Their programming skills are high level and remarkable to see.”
Joining Team 31330A in the Round of 16 was SHS Team 31330E, Jacob Martin, Mallorie Misamore, Alejandro Perez and Aiden Rodriguez. They ranked 16th.
“This team ranked as high as second place the first half of the tournament,” Miller Kuzel said. “They got hit hard during a match, causing some air fittings to break. They never stopped fighting and kept working on the problem.”
Team 31330B, Gabe Seabolt, Alyssa Fields and Miguel Andersen, ranked 31st.
“This team’s bot continues to impress everyone with hanging from the second bar,” Miller Kuzel said. “It just needs some slight adjustments to not fall when the controller is put down. Gabe spent every available second focused on adjusting and fixing his arm without getting frustrated.”
Seymour Middle School Team 30013A ranked 12th and competed in the quarterfinals. Team members are Caydyn Parks, Lillian Westmoreland and Cruz Gaspar-Pascual.
“Their challenges of grabbing the stake and programming issues got worked out during the competition,” Miller Kuzel said. “They are working on their PSI levels to be able to grab the stake and work out the kinks in their programming.”
The coach said all of her teams help each other, which is a positive.
“What I am seeing is that they are becoming more and more comfortable working with other schools,” she said. “We are so proud of how they collaborate and have fun. Between the girls team and Henryville alliance strategizing to our teams and Trinity working together to Micah, Alejandro, Noah and Ethan mentoring our own teams to Nikita and Hannah troubleshooting and loaning out parts to teams that need it, the list goes on, and we could not be more proud of your students. They are growing up to be amazing future adults and take-charge leaders.”
Trinity Lutheran reported its teams placed eighth (1483B, Jeremiah Clay, Marshall Leinart and Sam Lorenz), 22nd (1483C, Nolan Tiepen, Rylan Adair, Jacob Lorenz and Lincoln Huff), 19th (1483D, Adela Meyer, Naomi McKinley and Belle Kiewit) and 27th (1483A, Brad Dyer, Oliver Patrick and Nathanel Phin).
