The Student Newspaper of Westminster Christian Academy

The Wildcat Roar

The Student Newspaper of Westminster Christian Academy

The Wildcat Roar

The Student Newspaper of Westminster Christian Academy

The Wildcat Roar

Tenth at Regionals

Westminster’s FIRST Robotics team, the Cyborg Cats, took tenth place at this year’s regional competition which took place March 4-6, ending their season successfully, though falling short of qualifying for Worlds, the FRC international competition.

“The team did very well. We placed tenth out of forty-three teams at the St. Louis Regional. We won the award for creative design. Unfortunately we did not qualify for worlds,” said Christian Meeks, sophomore Cyborg Cats technician.

Last season, the team won the rookie award, qualifying them for Worlds. But, in order to qualify for Worlds this year, the team had to win their entire state competition, not just be the number one rookie team – a task that proved to be much more difficult.

This year, the team was challenged with the task of shooting frisbees into small slots in order to get points. At the end of the allotted time, the robots had to climb a pyramid in the center of this year’s playing field.

The Cyborg Cats had an opportunity to improve their place in the beginning of the quarter finals. But, due to a disappointing alliance (an alliance is a group of teams whose robots work to gether as a team during a match), they were left in tenth place in the end.

“What was the hardest thing to watch was the fact that we couldn’t have done anything better. We did our part and were able to reach the third level, but our alliance just wasn’t up to par with our competitors,” said Drew Port, sophomore public relations head of the Cyborg Cats.

One thing that set the team apart for the better was their live streaming of the entire event, which ranked robots and teams when it came to alliances, and projected live robot action. Known as L!VE FRC, their program could be streamed to smart phones, tablets, or laptops.

The outcome of their large work load, which filled their after-school nights and Saturdays, was anything but a disappointment.

“I am very proud that even though we did not come in first, we were still able to do what we had practiced: our robot successfully climbed and shot frisbees, and our team worked together with other schools and teams. It was a lot of fun,” said Meeks.

The team took another shot at Worlds as they compete in Indiana in the beginning of May. Their goals were set high as they hoped to qualify to Worlds, but unfortunately, they came short in thirteenth place. The Cyborg Cats one the excellence in engineering award, but will not be participating at worlds this year.

Whether or not the Cyborg Cats qualify for Worlds, a competition that will take place in the Edward Jones Dome of St. Louis April 24-27, they certainly will be there streaming the event live through their website, livefrc.com.

More to Discover
Activate Search
The Student Newspaper of Westminster Christian Academy
Tenth at Regionals