Midland-area teams score high in state robotics

Midland is home to five high school FIRST robotics teams. Two of those teams, Bullock Creek High’s Team 3770 “BlitzCreek” and Midland High’s Team 5509 “Like a Boss” were selected to be part of playoff Alliances that reached the finals in their division.

Bullock Creek received the Finalist Award in the DTE Energy Division and Midland High received the Finalist Award in the Dow Division. Midland High Team 5509 also won the Spirit Award in the Dow Division.

H.H. Dow High’s Team 2619 “The Charge”, Midland Area Home School’s Team 5424 “Rogue Robots”, and Calvary Baptist Academy’s Team 6753 “RoboKings” also advanced to the FIRST Robotics State Championships last weekend at the Ryder Center at Saginaw Valley State University.

During the competition, two alliances of three 120-pound robots each faced off in this year’s game of “Destination: Deep Space”.

“The Charge” was captain of the sixth-ranked playoff Alliance in the Ford Division. They selected Hemlock High’s Team 5712 “Gray Matter” as one of their Alliance partners. Their Alliance reached the quarter-finals before being eliminated by the eventual overall FRC State Championship winners. Dow High won the Autonomous Award and Hemlock High won the Spirit Award in the Ford Division.

Other Great Lakes Bay Region teams being awarded at the State Championships included the “Rogue Robots”, winning the Imagery Award in the Ford Division, Freeland High’s Team 5166 “Fabricators” winning the Spirit Award in the Consumer’s Energy Division, and Garber High’s Team 5216 “E-Ville Empire” winning the Safety Award in the Dow Division.

Three teams also were invited to give presentations and interviews for the top two team awards at the State Championships – only 28 teams in Michigan qualified to compete for each of these awards. Dow and Garber each gave presentations for the Chairman’s Award and Dow and Hemlock each gave interviews for the Engineering Inspiration Award. These awards recognize teams for their impact on their community, for spreading the passion of FIRST and STEM, and for embodying the values and goals of FIRST.

Bullock Creek junior Maxton Herst was interviewed and won a Dean’s List Finalist Award. This award celebrates 15 outstanding state student leaders who show passion and effectiveness at attaining FIRST ideals. Maxton will move onto the FIRST World Championships in Detroit to compete to be one of five world Dean’s List Winners.

Based on the results of the season and the State Championships, five Great Lakes Bay Region high school teams qualified to compete at the FRC World Championships in Detroit at the end of April: Team 2619 from Dow, Team 3770 from Bullock Creek, Team 5216 from Garber, Team 5509 from Midland and Team 5712 from Hemlock.