2011 VEX Robotics World Championship
I’m happy to report that after 6 fabulous days in Orlando, Fl we have returned to Murrieta after a truly amazing trip.
There were 416 teams from around the world competing in the high school divisions. There were 4 separate divisions, each comprised of 104 teams. Team 569 was in the Technology Division and Team 569B was in the Science Division.
Wednesday April 13th – Long travel day from Ontario, CA to Orlando, Fl. Arrived at the Disney All Star Music Resort about 1am on Thursday morning.
Thursday April 14th – Travelled to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which is comprised of every sporting venue you can think of. We competed in the HP Field House which was an enormous gymnasium. Our pit area was just outside the gym in a tent the size of a city block. Practice Matches and 2 Qualifying Matches were held in the afternoon. For dinner we ordered pizza and went swimming in the 2 pools shaped like a guitar and a piano (following the Music theme of the hotel).
Friday April 15th – Qualifying Matches continued all day. Teams 569 and 569B were doing great overcoming many obstacles to stay in near the top of the leader board. They faced and were aligned with teams from all over the world. After a long day we headed to Downtown Disney for some dinner and a night of checking out the sights.
Saturday April 16th – Qualifying wrapped up by noon. Team 569 with a record of 6-2-1 was in 20th place out of 104 teams in their division. Team 569B with a record of 6-3 was in 25th place out of 104 teams in their division. Both teams deserved to be in the divisional playoffs which only include 24 out of the 104 robots in their respective divisions. However only the top 8 teams get to choose their two partners for the playoffs. Team 569, although ranked in the top 24 was not selected for the playoffs. THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN!! Team 569B was selected by the 7th seeded alliance to continue on in the playoffs.
569B Playoffs – Team 569B was part of the #7 seeded alliance and had to face the #2 seed of the division. In a remarkable effort they slayed the dragon and beat the #2 seed to make it to the semifinals of their division. Only 48 teams out of 416 in the entire tournament made it this far putting MVHS in the top 12% of teams from around the world. Unfortunately our alliance was defeated in the semifinals. Interestingly enough the World Champion came from our division so the competition was extremely stiff.
After concluding the tournament we had a celebratory dinnery at Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney to celebrate all we have accomplished this year. The students certainly earned it!
Sunday April 17th – “NightHawk Robotics Club (NHRC) you have just competed in the VEX Robotics World Championships, what are you going to do next?” Answer – WE’RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!!! And from 10:30 am to 2:30 am we navigated all there was to see at the Magic Kingdom. What a great way to celebrate all of our accomplishments over the past year.
I could not be more proud of our efforts at the tournament. I am also very proud of how each student handled themselves throughout the exhausting week. Our teams most certainly did it the R.I.T.E. way with Respect, Integrity, TEAMWORK, and EXCELLENCE. It was a pleasure to be a part of this group and you all should know that our students from Murrieta can compete with the best and brightest from around the
world.
