Crete Robotics Qualifies for Tournament of the Americas
by Kathy Koerner
January 22, 2010
Three CHS Robotics teams competed at the Papillion-Lavista tournament on January 16. Two teams, Quoll and Sasquatch, were part of a three team alliance that sailed by all challengers and made it to the final round. There they faced a fierce competitor from Omaha and nearly stopped them. In the end, the Crete entourage captured second place by a narrow margin, and in the process, qualified for the Tournament of the Americas in March. Veteran members of Team Quoll are: Senior, Isabel Garcia; Sophomores, Shane Kraus, Lukas Renker, Mike Dewey, Colin Lauenroth, Patrick Haller; and new Freshmen Chandler Hartzell and Ryan Weide. Team Sasquatch include Seniors Daniel Young, Ryan Haller, Kendra McElravy, and Daniel Jerina; Junior Nick Youssef, Sophomore Aaron Braunberger, and Freshman Preston McElravy.
The third team, the Ornithors, the newest addition to the group, had a very successful first outing. Competing all the way to the semi-finals was a remarkable achievement made possible by the hard work of veteran Junior members Francisco Padilla and David Rodriguez, and Sophomores Dulce Castaneda and Amy Hung. Besides building a new Robot, they also were busy helping to teach new teammates, Senior Iaira Saucedo; Sophomores Meghan Shrewsbury, Yesenia Escalante and Roxana Dominguez; and Freshmen Matt Scholz, Justin Lempka, and Tad Rosburg the ropes.
The teams look forward to their next competition at Omaha Benson High on January 30. Hopefully all three teams will be headed to the Americas and perhaps even to the World competition at the end of the day!
All three teams are coached by Crete alum, Mike Smith.
