WPS middle schools compete at VEX Robotics World Championships

A record 25 WPS middle school teams competed at the Kansas State VEX Robotics tournament on March 8 at Brooks Center for STEM and Arts Magnet Middle School.

Eight teams from five WPS middle schools qualified to attend the VEX World Championship in Dallas held April 28-30.

Here is a recap of how the teams competed at the national level:

 

Allison Traditional Magnet Middle School

Coach Steve Smith had two teams qualify.

Team 1 – Allison TENK – Nate Carter, Lukas Garcia-Charles, Ethan Heck and Kort Powell.

Team 2 – Allison Ascending Aces – Duane Aglano, Caleb Gegen, Jace Headley and Brianna Hupach

Both teams produced some of the most complex robots ever built at Allison.

Team Allison TENK finished with 4 wins and 6 loses and placed 52^nd out of 82 teams in the Science Division.

Team Allison Ascending Aces finished with 5 wins and 5 loses and placed 35^th out of 80 teams in the Design Division. They defeated the number one-ranked team in the division in a 113-112 match.

 

Brooks Center for STEM and Arts Magnet Middle School

Coach Mark Smith had one team qualify.

Team members – Mark January, Daniel Franco, Max McLevis and Joshua Buckley

The team finished with a 2 and 8 record ranking 74^th out of 80 teams in the Design Division. They ranked 170^th out of 305 at Worlds.

 

Christa McAuliffe Academy

Coach Matthew French had two teams qualify.

Team one – Landon Cherico, Reilly Freed and Braden Williams

Team two – Andrew Plante, Topher Bauman, Landon Pham and Patrick Johnson

Team one finished 3-7 in the Technology Division at Worlds. Two-thirds of the team started participating in second semester of this year.

Team two finished 8-2, ranked 18^th out of 82 teams in the Engineering Division. They are the first middle school team in the district to win more than six matches at VEX Worlds and the first to make it through the Alliance section and into the Round of 16.

 

Mead Middle School

Coach Mark Franks had two teams qualify.

Team one – Jadan Otero, Jaden Parker, Alexis Villapando and Anh Le

Team two – Gavin Reese, Rigo DeLaCruz, Alexander Limones and Michael Aquino

Both teams were Kansas state tournament finalists.

 

Wilbur Middle School

Coaches Lauri Wedel-Isaacs and Kasey Littlefield had one team qualify.

Team – Camden Soetaert, Brecken Dexter and Noah Graces

Wilbur’s team finished 5-5 in the Math division.