In an extremely successful season for the robotics program, two teams from Haverford attended the VEX Robotics World Championships, which hosts over eight hundred of the best high school robotics teams from around the world to compete for a chance to become world champions. Teams 169A and 169X, when combined, contained students from every upper school form.
Haverford teams qualified for Worlds through the Eastern PA State Championships, where teams can win a spot by advancing to the final level at the competition or receiving an award for their robot based on a judged interview. Haverford sent all five teams to the state championship, with three teams making it to the semifinals and 169X winning a close final against 169A to become state champions. Team 169A also received the Think Award, an award presented to the team with the best implementation of code into their robot.
In the weeks leading up to the competition, the Haverford teams made various improvements to their robots and code. Haverford also hosted a large scrimmage with nearby teams, hoping to test out their new robots and see how they matched up against others.
After landing in St. Louis, the Cavalry started competing in qualification matches, hoping to secure a good seed and alliance partner for the elimination bracket. Both teams performed extremely well, with 169A securing the seventh seed and 169X securing the twenty-second seed, advancing both of them to the elimination bracket.
Fourth Former Ben Qu, member of 169A, said, “For each match we developed a game plan, we went over it, and then we fixed our robot, and we made sure everything worked before each match.”
Hopes were high as both teams paired up with their alliance partners and prepared for their round-of-16 matches. Unfortunately, both teams lost in extremely close contests, resulting in elimination.
“The understanding of how to do robotics well is going to continue to grow.”
Mr. ADAM MEYERS
“It was really disappointing,” Third Former Eric Xiao, member of 169X, said. “With our current robot, driving skills, and coding, we definitely could have gone a lot further.”
“It was a little bit of a mixed feeling. We were a little bit disappointed, but obviously we still got seventh in our division at Worlds, that’s pretty good,” Qu said.
Despite the disappointing losses, this year was the first in recent years to send two teams to Worlds, and Haverford was able to claim another state championship title.
“I think, overall, teams did better because they were so passionate and so ready to work,” faculty advisor Mr. Adam Myers said.
Both teams have young members who will be returning next year, signifying an even brighter future for the program.
“We’re only freshmen, and next year we’re gonna come back even better and even stronger,” Xiao said.
Haverford’s robotics teams have already started working on designs for the next season, and the organization as a whole looks poised to have an even more successful year.
“The passion continues to be high,” Mr. Myers said. “The understanding of how to do robotics well is going to continue to grow.”
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