Robotics Teams Advance to State-Level Competitions

Three student robotics teams from Westchester Country Day School advanced to this year's state-level competitions.

Recently, the Lower School teams, coached by Terry Andrews, participated in regional competitions. In the skills rounds of the most recent competition, the Rubik Racers, a team of fifth graders Anna Kate Albert, Emma Reece Ballance and Johanna English, placed themselves as the top-ranked team in the state. The Wombats, a team of fifth graders Oliver Mercadante and Alex Coles, were right behind them. The skills round requires teams to program their robots and drive them to navigate a field of elements. The teams were also victorious in the challenge matches, where teams are randomly paired to work together to score points. The Rubik Racers and Wombots were ranked 1 and 2, respectively, in the finals. Both teams will compete at the state championships on February 17.

The Middle School robotics teams recently had their second competition of the year. The Cosmos Cats (Jack Andrews, Pearl Caddy, Colton Denmark, and Declan Holdson), coached by Gene Denmark, and the CyPurr Cats (eighth graders James Collins, Luke Heybrock, Lukas Stofferis and Max Volynets), coached by John Hughes, put to use their experience from the first competition and overcame challenges. The Cosmos Cats' robot showed great design and polish in its second-ever competition. The CyPurr Cats achieved the seventh highest driving skills/autonomous control average and the fourth highest collaborative score. They were invited to compete at the state level on February 24.