San Ysidro
Last week our teams went to San Ysidro High School to compete in a tournament to try and get our other teams qualified for the Southern California State Championships.
Team 569A came to the competition unprepared, with a Cortex on their robot that had to be replaced before their robot could work. Once they had that done though, they were able to finish the final touches on their robot and get it inspected just before the deadline, meaning that they were able to go on to compete in the qualifying rounds. Unfortunately, they did not do as well as they would have liked, and they were unable to claim a spot in the playoffs of the tournament.
Team 569B came to the tournament prepared with a robot that functioned properly, but they were unprepared with their notebook, having to hand it in before they had a chance to put in the pictures that they were working on printing out. With a functioning robot however, and a working autonomous mode, the team got inspected and went straight to the practice field. They spent most of their time at the practice field, getting as much driver practice in as they could between qualifying matches. They did not do as well as they would have liked either, mainly due to poor driving performance by both drivers, caused by stress. They still made it into the tournament playoffs, however, and they went on with their alliance to the semifinals, where they lost in two very close matches against their opponents.
Team 569C was the best of the NHRC robots at this tournament, as they were at the previous tournament, but yet again they did not do as well as they could have. They didn’t do as well because the team decided to give some of the freshmen on the team a chance to be the drivers of the robot. Since their tournament drivers were not well practiced, they did not perform at the peak of the robot’s capabilities. Unsurprisingly, however, the team still managed to get a spot in the playoffs, but they only made it to the quarter finals before losing after two incredibly close matches.
Team 569D was most prepared robot among the NHRC robots, with skilled and practiced drivers, and a beautiful autonomous program that could score one mobile goal and one cone in the 20 point zone fairly consistently. This was still not enough for them, and they fell short of team 569C, yet they still managed to claim their spot in the tournament playoffs, leaving team 569A as the only team not selected for the tournament playoffs. Unfortunately for the team, they had to face team 569C in the quarter finals, and after only two very close matches, team 569D took the victory and moved on to the semifinals, where they ended up losing after three matches.
Overall, every one of our teams performed exceptionally well, given the circumstances they were provided with upon arrival at the tournament. And now, after a relaxing Thanksgiving break, all of our teams are ready to get back up out of the dust and come back for their next tournament in January with a vengeance. Some of the strongest teams they have faced so far will be there, and they are as determined as ever to be able to defeat them and qualify for the Southern California State Championships, and eventually the World Championships.
