04/29/2014
The Knights had an incredible run during the 2014 FIRST Tech Challenge Season!
We began the year adding three incredible new members and continued to work towards our goals of becoming a true contender in Block Party!! Even though we did not advance from our state competition to the West super regional, some opportunities arose for us to compete at West Virginia State and eventually become captains of the Ashton Division winning alliance at the North Super Regional! In addition to our success in the robot game, we also were able to win the Inspire award at both the West Virginia State championship, and the FTC North Super Regional. We are so honored to be recognized for our efforts to promote both FIRST and robotics throughout our community, and can't wait to continue throughout the summer and into the future!
At the FIRST World Championship, our team was ranked 41st in Edison division, 22 spots better than our effort last year. We succeeded in our goal of going to Championship with not only a working robot, but one that was able to hold its own on the field as a top contender. Despite a few small errors in our hardware, our team was able to achieve a 4-5 record after winning none of our first 3 matches, and though we were not selected for an alliance, our robot sported one of the most efficient block manipulators at the competition. We learned so much at the championship, and can't wait to start implementing what we have learned.
We are also announcing the graduation of one of our members from the program: Daniel Probasco. Daniel has been a critical part of the team since it's inception as Knights of the Field Table in FLL. He has always been our lead programmer and CAD master, and we are excited to support him as he goes into Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State University. Not only is he driven to create and bring mechanisms to life, but he is also a stellar individual and friend; a true ambassador for FIRST core values in his daily life. Daniel will continue to be an active member of the FTC community in Colorado, mentoring our team, as well as pursuing his dream of becoming an FTA.
We want to thank everyone who supported us this season, and hope for your continued support in the future! We also want to thank our stellar coaches, Mike and Cathy Brubaker, as well as our friends Travis Menghini and Tom McGovern for always believing in our team, and helping us along the way to greatness. And last but not least, we want to thank our parents, who have supported our team in extraordinary ways throughout the season. They've been there for us in the stands, in the pits, and in our homes. We couldn't have done it without them.
Overall, we couldn't be happier with how we did this season, and can't wait to continue our journey, wherever it may take us. The season had it's ups and downs, highs and lows, but was always a (block) party!!!
Knights Out.
-Patrick
