May 8, 2023
Granbury High School JROTC teams competed at the VEX Robotics Worlds/National Championship on April 26-29, 2023, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas. This is the second year in a row that Granbury MCJROTC has participated in VEX Worlds/Nationals.
Granbury JROTC fielded three teams in the competition. Team 11775A members were, Zachary Layland, Kaylynn Slaughter, and Rhyan Obina. Team 11775B team members were Marcus Hadaway and Wyatt Mraz. Team 11775C members were Matthew Wilson, Dalton Weddle, Ennio Montes, and Braden Seaborne.
After a long week of competition, Teams 11775A and 11775C advanced to the finals and placed in the top 15 of 180 teams from the other services. Team 11775 B advanced to the finals and placed 3rd overall and missed going to the finals by one match. Also, 11775B claimed the National Build Award for a well-constructed robot that is constructed with a high degree of attention to detail in order to hold up to the rigors of competition. Key criteria of the Build Award are; construction is durable and robust, reliable on the field and holds up under competition conditions, designed with attention to safety and detail, students understand and explain how they worked together to develop their robot design, team interview demonstrates effective communication skills, teamwork, professionalism, and a student-centered ethos.
"It was a battle throughout the entire week for every point to make it as far as our teams did”, commented Lt. Col. Scott Casey, the Senior Marine Instructor. “What is just as impressive is our top team is comprised of two freshmen who barely missed making it to the championship round due to a mechanical failure by their alliance teammate in the last match.”
Granbury team member Slaughter was also honored to be a student ambassador for the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation. This included greeting and escorting VIP guests from Google, Space X, Northrup Grumman, Tesla, and more. Also, Slaughter participated in the Parade of Nations during the opening ceremony as Granbury was the only Marine Corps Team in the national competition.
Also, during the national competition closing ceremonies the game for next year was released, “Over and Under”. Robotics Competition Over Under is played on a 12’ x 12’ square field. Two (2) Alliances – one (1) “red” and one (1) “blue” – composed of two (2) Teams each, compete in matches consisting of a fifteen (15) second Autonomous Period, followed by a one minute and forty-five second (1:45) Driver Controlled Period. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing Alliance by Scoring Triballs in Goals, and by elevating their robot at the end of the match. https://www.vexrobotics.com/v5/competition/vrc-current-game
photos courtesy Granbury High School MCJROTC
