The Gladstone BraveBots returned from the Robotics World Competition held in Houston, Texas this past Sunday. They followed a police and fire escort from Escanaba to Gladstone High School where they were greeted by friends, family, High School Principal Andy Jacques, and family pets.
Barron said, ‘’The community sent us off with a flood of support, well wishes, media coverage and messages. We continued to receive support via social media throughout the competition and then we were greeted home with a hero’s welcome, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
The BraveBots competed in the FIRST Robotics World Championship with over 600 teams from around the world. With over 45,000 people in attendance, it is a major event. They finished qualification matches on their court with an 8-2 record, securing every ranking point possible on their second day of competition. They were selected as a partner on the #6 alliance and competed against the #3 alliance in their first match.
They were not able to secure the win when one of their teammates from Virginia broke down, they then moved to the lower bracket. They replaced the broken robot with a back-up team from Knoxville, Tennessee and this alliance was able to take down the #2 alliance and move on to the next round. Although, the BraveBots would bow out in their next game and head for home, they could look back on the season with great pride.
“It is absolutely incredible to think back to our first meeting in January and see the progress these kids made both personally and as a team,” said Coach Tim Barron. “I am so thankful for the time the mentors put in guiding these kids to a successful season. Together we were able to create a robust, competitive, durable and versatile robot”. Robot is a unique animal in that it requires mentorship from adults. The BraveBots are proud of their adult to student ratio, and it is reflected in the successes they see both on and off the court. “I’ve said it before. It takes a village to build a successful robot program. This is not something that can be accomplished in isolation and our success relects our community”.
“It’s a bittersweet ending to the season where we enjoyed great success all year and it brings about a farewell to our four seniors.” Two of the seniors, Sawyer Lynch and Devin Messina, played major roles on the team as the drivers. They worked side by side all season to make Eve (the robot) perform as well as she did. “It makes my job easy when they have 9 years of experience between them, and they just know what needs to be done. They will be greatly missed!” states Barron. Also graduating are first year BraveBots Evan Zimmermann and Landon Fee who were instrumental on the programming team. “I only wish I had joined Robot earlier in my high school career” was heard many times during the season from both Evan and Landon.
The BraveBots finished the 2023 season with a record of 55-22-2 competing in Escanaba, Standish, and Kentwood, the State Finals at Saginaw Valley State University, and the World Championship in Houston. They accumulated a 1st place banner (Kentwood), 2nd place finish (Escanaba) and secured 4 judges awards through the course of the season. Coach Barron said “The awards and banners are great don’t get me wrong, but what I am most proud of is the growth of these students. Look out world, watch these BraveBots go!”
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