By Jessica Fontenot
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Team 1973A of MHS’ VEX Robotics team sought redemption at the East Oahu VEX Robotics tournament, hosted by Kalani High School, after placing fifth at the McKinley VEXhibition in August. Their second tournament proved to be the perfect opportunity to form an alliance with Waialua’s two teams, 359A with 1973A and 359B with 1973D, and give them both places in the state tournaments.
“We chose to team up with both Waialua teams because other teams were taken but we chose one Waialua team because they were really good,” said Junior Cyrus Noveloso of team 1973A, “It’s rare because we’re two top teams and we usually go against each other.”
By the end of the tournament, Waialua was given the Robot Skills and Excellence Award while MHS was awarded the Championship and Pilot Award. Each of these awards gave the schools a place in the state tournaments. Of the last two awards, the Judges’ Award was given to Kaimuki Middle school and the Design Award was given to Highlands Intermediate School.
With their alliance, teams 1973A and 359A topped the tournament with a score of six wins and zero losses, while 1973D and another team in their alliance, 808 Robotics, an independent homeschool association, reached the second to the last match of the finals with a score of five wins and one loss, which lost them a place in the finals. “I let it go,” said Senior Glenn Galvizo Jr., team 1973D’s driver, “I told myself ‘I’ll fix this next time,’ because this isn’t the end.”
Piloting 1973D’s robot calls for quick thinking and decisive moves, since their robot sacrifices battery life for speed. “I try to be as rational as I can (while piloting),” said Galvizo, “And try not to get angry so if my drive were to die, I would be under immense pressure to score, but I know that I have to let it rest, I can not move.”
While both MHS and Waialua could depend on each other’s skills to get them through the tournament, they had to do this while ignoring the friends and family members of their opposing teams that filled Kalani’s stands. “(What stood out to me most was) the cheering mostly,” said Noveloso. “It actually kind of just hyped me up.”
Even though 1973A may have taken this tournament, they plan to continue making improvements to their robots. “We need to develop a robot that addresses all aspects of this year’s competition,” said VEX Robotics adviser Timothy Pregana.
In recollection of the results from the tournament, MHS is currently improving their robots in preparation for the Big Island of Hawaii Tournament, which will be held on Oct. 11 to 12.
