Geared up for state
Texas High robotics keeps tournament champion title
Photo by Braylen Garren
Juniors Aidan spivey and Brett Sparks and sophmore Evan Whyche too home the gold at Texas High’s host competition. After this victory, they’re eager to see how they’ll fare at State.
November 30, 2022
After the booming sounds of roaring bots colliding comes to a halt, Texas High School robotics secures its victory as 1st place champions in the 67 Classic Tournament beating their rivals, Pleasant Grove robotics, 72-48.
The tournament was held on Saturday, Nov. 12 at Texas Middle School where 32 VEX teams anxiously awaited for their turn to compete. Tensions were high, for there was no clear victor until the competition was all said and done. These fierce teams have been practicing for months all for this moment.
Rivals such as Pleasant Grove, Redwater and Commerce showed up to compete to qualify for state, all of them giving their best shot.
However, the Texas High School team 3350C, consisting of sophmore Evan Whyche and juniors Aidan Spivey and Brett Sparks, managed to pull through for T-High and take the Tournament Champion Award home.
“It was fun. We put out our best effort, and we won the tournament championship,” Whyche said. “I believe we can easily go to worlds and meet the competition we have waited so long for.”
Team 3350A, consisting of juniors Gavin Smith and Salem Alonge, won the Design Award. The award is given to the team showcasing a unique design and includes a thorough documentation of their bot inside of their engineering notebooks.
“I was thrilled when we won the Design Award. We’ve been working for a long time to achieve this award, and it was well deserved,” Alonge said. “Texas High Robotics has come a long way from what it was during my freshman year.”
This tournament was no easy task due to the many unexpected diversions encountered during this competition. Many qualification matches were only won by a few mere points.
“We encountered several road bumps, but I think we can improve ourselves and turn out some amazing awards later in the year,” freshman Brayden Ahrens said. “I just wish we had more time and space for our robotics team. We have come a long way from what we are.”
This tournament has now qualified team 3350C to compete in State in both Dallas and Houston. This will be the second year in a row Texas High will have qualified for these signature events. Additionally, the team has been given the invitation to attend Nationals in Iowa. Without a doubt, the future is looking bright for the confident Texas High School T-Bots.
“It went better than we had hoped,” robotics sponsor Mark Ahrens said. “We [won] Tournament Champion. We won a Design Award. It was a good day for us. We’re a growing club and are in need of a change in location, but we have managed to pull through. I believe we will do well in State.”
