Ethel Walker School
Walker’s Robotics team, the Wirecats, competed in the 16th annual BattleCry@WPI FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA this past weekend. The team competed against 54 other teams from seven states and after two days of competition, the Wirecats qualified in 33rd position. The team formed an elimination bracket alliance with two other teams: Windham Windup from Windham, NH and Team Beta from Woodbury, CT. The three-team alliance worked well together and advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament, finishing as one of the top 12 teams in the contest.
It was truly a team effort: Kylie Driscoll ’18 and Lyrica Yanaway ’17 were excellent drivers, and Tricia Smith ’16 and Liza Phillips ’17 split time as the “human player”, interacting with the game directly. The scout team of Cheyenne Watts ’17, Danielle Shubat ’15, Salem Matzinger ’15 and Jeanette Crews ’17 kept the Wirecats’ team leader, Morgan Locandro ’16, well-informed to make the best strategic decisions for the team throughout.
The Wirecats and their mentors were recognized at the competition for “Inspiring Youth in STEM”, a great achievement for a team that began this school year. As a newly-formed team, the Wirecats are already looking ahead to next season. They have competed in four competitions this year, including the Connecticut State Championships held by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference at Berlin High School on May 16. The Wirecats were also selected as Rookie All-Stars at the 2015 New England District qualifier event in Hartford.
