On January 31st, just a week after their last tournament, the Mecha Lions headed to Franklin High School, where they probably had one of their best matches yet.
After the previous tournament in Camden Catholic High School, the Mecha Lions had a lot of ideas on how to improve. Jamir Gomez started working on a new robot base, while Emir Talas, Ashly Guillen, and Jorge Velazquez made adjustments to the main robot. Galillee Perez and Emilio Manzo Vargas got to test out some of their codes, while Aidan Davis and Jordan Barahona got to practice driving.
On the day of the event, the team was awestruck by the venue, and one student even mistook the high school as a college campus because of its grand scale. One of our parents, Ms. Reyes also joined us, with snacks and fruits for the whole team. Everyone arrived early, and inspection also went smoothly. With some experience in tournaments at this point, drivers Aidan Davis and Ryson Dennett-Davis walked around and started strategizing with alliance partners before matches. In the gym, Mirely Guillen was also keeping an eye on all the other robots, and kept reporting back to the team of everyone else’s strategies, and what our team should be focusing on. For each match, there was a different strategy based on both teams’ strengths and weaknesses. Our robot, Big Bertha, was in a much more confident state this time around, able to play both defense and offense.
All these improvements paid off, and at one point, Team 3777A was ranked 2nd out of 51. The team had a strong defense strategy, and during offensive matches, it also managed to score points in goals other teams missed. With strong strategies and focus, the Mecha Lions made it to the quarter finals. It was there that they met a team called the Clankers, who put an end to Big Bertha’s reign.
Overall, the team did extremely well, with multiple victories throughout the day. Although the Mecha Lions did not win the final matches this time, qualifying for the state championship feels right within reach.
Coach Alizah Memon
