Manchester High’s Robotics Team Competes in VEX Robotics World Championship

The Golden State grew a bit brighter this weekend as more than 10,000 participants comprised of middle school, high school and university students, educators and team mentors from nearly 20 countries around the globe showcased their smarts in the fierce three-day 2012 VEX Robotics Competition World Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center.

After the final points were tallied, the winning alliance from each division was comprised of teams from Canada, China, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the United States, who took home the coveted World Championship trophies. Six hundred of the nearly 5,000 VEX Robotics Competition teams qualified to face-off in the robot ring against their toughest competitors at this year’s VEX Robotics Competition World Championship after battling in more than 300 local, regional and national tournaments around the world during the season.

Manchester High School’s robotics team, Geared Up, placed 90th in its division. Beginning on Thursday, the global competition kicked off with preliminary qualification rounds. Friday morning, students took part in the opening ceremonies parade of nations, bearing their respective countries’ brilliant flags, followed by a series of intense head-to-head matches throughout the afternoon.

The festivities reached a crescendo on Saturday as the division champion alliances worked together to defeat their competition in the Finals. For those competitors eager to get a jump on next year’s robot designs, the 2012/2013 VEX Robotics Competition game Sack Attack was unveiled at the tournament on Saturday afternoon. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent by picking up colored bean bags and placing them in a scoring trough that runs the length of the field. Robots will also gain points for finishing in designated areas at the end of a match.

Mr. Prytko, the teams coach and teacher, would like to congratulate the entire team for a great year and a great competition. He will miss his seniors, Dester Alvarez, Brian Graves, Alex Grimaldi, Michael Gosselin, JJ Morgan , Josiah Morgan, and James Nilson.  

As next year starts, members Joe Kerr, AJ Lippo, Ken Lippo, Erik Bachmann, and Marc Orfitelli will be looking to fill out the team. But the team is still in search of designers, drivers, and programmers. Please contact Mr. Prytko at b11prytk@manchesterct.gov for more details and visit www.vexrobotics.com.