Knights Win Regionals; Set for International Robotics Tournament in Atlanta
Competing against 24 teams from the Midwest the Mount Michael team call Papa Smurf consisting of sophomores Alex Schulte, Josh Cox, and Dominic Antonelli came away as champions of the First Tech Challenge Regional Tournament held at Mount Michael. In an alliance with Papa Smurf were fellow Mount Michael team Riptide Rush, consisting of sophomores Will Denton and Brendan Walsh,and GIR's Angel's from Mercy High School.

Mount Michael had 4 teams in the competition with three placing in the top 8 for the final elimination round. In the semi-finals Papa Smurf and their alliance defeated a fellow Mount Michael team called Lamda made up of juniors Max McClanahan, Edward Jeong, Jeong Bo Shim and sophomore Adam Prusa. Also making the top 8 for the elimination round for Mount Michael was Bedienungsanleitung which consisted of Jacob Benes, Patrick Harder, Adam Tucker, Lukas Ramsey, and Chaval Punyatanaskchai.

Preparations for this years competions began last fall. Teams used the Vex Robotics Design System consisting of metal parts for a chassis, sensors, motors, a transmitter/receiver, and gears to construct and program a fully programmable robot. The Challenge gives students an opportunity to brainstorm, design, build, and test their robotic designs. Finally, teams keep an Engineering Notebook, tracking their progress and showing them the beginning principles of the engineering design process.

Competition Awards:
Winning Alliance
Captain: Team 597, Papa Smurf from Mount Michael (Team Members Josh
Cox, Alex Schulte and Dominic Antonelli)
1st pick: Team 767, Riptide Rush from Mount Michael (Team members
Brendan Walsh and Will Denton)
2nd pick: Team 765, GIR's Angels - Mercy High

Runner-Up Alliance
Captain: Team 302, Quall from Crete High School
1st pick: Team 778, Brownell Blue - Brownell Talbot
2nd pick: Team 766, Vampire GIR - Mercy High

Judged Awards:
Inspire Award: Team 603, SWAT from Batavia, IL
Think Award: Team 604, pwnage from Batavia, IL
Connect Award: Team 355, RoboGophers from Batavia, IL
Amaze Award: Team 367, Solon Piecebots from Solon High School, Solon, IA
Innovate Award: Team 778, Brownell Blue from Brownell Talbot, Omaha, NE
Motivate Award: Team 765, GIR's Angels from Mercy High, Omaha, NE

Teams in the competition originated from Sergeant Bluff, IA; Crete, NE. (2); Batavia, IL (3); Salon, IA (2); Grand Island, NE; Mount Vernon, IA; Papillion, NE (2); Aurora, CO; Millard High School, Omaha NE; Mercy High School (2) Omaha, NE; North High School, Omaha NE; and Brownell School, Omaha, NE.

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