2015 VEX IQ Colorado State Championship! // Loveland, CO
Team Chazak was up bright and early on Saturday morning, the seventh of March, and they were excited! Stephen, Matthew, Garret, and Noa, as well as the coaches and family members of the boys, proudly wore their bright green shirts. They, along with multiple other teams, arrived at Bill Reed Middle School and began to set up their pit area to get ready for the long day of competition ahead of them. When everyone had arrived and the robots were inspected, working, and ready to go, the crowd of coaches, parents, students, and volunteers gathered in the gym to start the day. The VEX IQ State Championship was underway!
The team had multiple matches before the lunch break, and each time they placed higher and higher on the score board, there seemed to be hope rising that they could go to the World’s Championship in April! Some rounds weren’t the best, but the team used fantastic teamwork, and thought clearly when the clock was running down. It was amazing to watch how the boys not only worked together as a team, but worked together so well with the other alliance teams to score the most points possible. Down the middle row of blocks the robot went; the alliance team waited eagerly for Chazak’s signal to go ahead.
Team Chazak placed first in the qualification rounds, which took up a large portion of the day. Finals began, and Chazak and the Rocky Mountain Pirates were allianced together for the last match of the day. With the boys’ robot so consistent at stacking red and green blocks, and the Pirates’ ability to stack up to eight blue blocks (which makes for a rather high score!) combined, everyone was looking forward to the ending game. The countdown began, and Garret and Stephen began to maneuver the robot across the field, bringing cubes back into the scoring zone. As they worked to bring back cubes and possibly stack them, the Pirates worked at the same thing, and the final few seconds were filled with screaming and cheering, as both teams faced a few close calls! It was an intense one minute! Stephen and Garrett shook hands with the Pirates, picked up the robot off the field, and the entire team went back to the pits, located in the cafeteria, to wait for the score.
The score of the final match was given (a combined 100 points!), and with excitement Chazak watched as they and the Pirates were placed in first and second place, respectively. Now the closing awards ceremony could happen. All the teams, wearing brightly colored shirts, sat on the floor and listened as awards were named. Chazak was called up three times; they received the Skills Challenge Award, the Teamwork Award, and finally, the Middle School Excellence Award! Everyone associated with the team was so thrilled for another amazing competition, but even more excited that this meant they’d be going to World’s Competition in Kentucky only a month later!
We are so proud of Stephen, Garrett, Matthew, and Noa, and all of the hard work and time they’ve invested in robotics this year, and we’re excited to prepare to head to Worlds soon. The boys are perfecting performance skills, teamwork skills, and their STEM research project to be completely prepared for whatever lies ahead! If you would like to help Team Chazak head to Kentucky, feel free to donate!
