The robotics team attended the Greater KC Regional robotics competition at Lee Summit North from Thursday, March 30 to Saturday, April 1. Both the JV and varsity teams competed in the competition alongside 34 other teams from other schools. The JV team was awarded the highest rookie team and rookie inspiration awards but were ultimately eliminated by the varsity team in the second round of the playoffs portion of the competition. The varsity team made it to the quarterfinals before they were eliminated. 

Co-president senior Isaac Steiner was upset about the team’s elimination, but was ultimately proud of how hard his team fought. 

“I was initially upset about the situation we were in at the end of elimination rounds and was upset with the difficulty of our schedule, but ultimately I think we did as good as we could given the situation,” Steiner said. “I am really proud of how hard this team worked all season and how much progress the whole team made this year.” 

Despite the finish not being what the team had hoped for, senior Garrett Cowen still enjoyed the competition. 

“My favorite part of the competition was when the varsity team played against the JV team and knocked them out of the playoffs,” Cowen said. 

Cowen was happy with the energy and effort given by his teammates at the competition. 

“We had a lot of team spirit,” Cowen said. “The pit, which is the people who worked on the robot between the rounds, also did a phenomenal job on the robot.” 

The team had been putting time and effort into preparing for the competition long before it was actually hosted, according to co-president senior Connor Bauer. 

“We spent 6 weeks building our robot as well as making a checklist of things to check on the robot that may fail,” Bauer said. “We also did a drive practice on a mini field we made.” 

Steiner believes that by cutting down on small mistakes, the team could improve their performance at future competitions. 

“We just really need to lock down on small mistakes,” Steiner said. “We had no large blunders this tournament but a couple small mistakes ended up getting us eliminated.” 

Steiner enjoys the tight-knit community that he has found on the robotics team at this event and others throughout the year. 

“I really loved the sense of community at the event. On the bus ride everyone was playing games together and making jokes [and it] made me reminisce about all the good times we’ve had over the years,” Steiner said. “Everyone was just so supportive of everyone else that it really reminded me of what makes FRC such a fun and inclusive organization to be a part of in the first place.” 

Even without the finish he had hoped for at the competition, Steiner has high hopes for the future of the robotics team. 

“Great things are in store for this team in the future and I can’t wait to see where they go,” Steiner said.