On January 31st, Governor Livingston attended their second FIRST Tech robotics competition this season hosted by Hightstown High School. The Snow Day Showdown tournament consisted of 35 teams from around New Jersey and served as a qualifying match for the State tournament, which will be held at the end of February.
These tournaments begin with a qualifying phase, where schools compete in five matches. During these matches schools are randomly paired and work together as a team (or alliance) against other schools. At the end of the five qualification matches, the Governor Livingston Robotics Team, known as the Highlanders, had won 4 out of their 5 matches. This was due, in large part, to an extremely well written autonomous code that consistently secured them an initial lead in most of their matches. Based on their performance in the qualification matches, the Governor Livingston Team was ranked 3rd overall.
The top four teams then advance to the elimination phase and serve as alliance captains during this round of play. The captains get to build their team by choosing two other schools to compete as part of their alliance. G.L. secured two early victories during this round of play, and moved onto the Finals. The Governor Livingston Alliance finished 2nd overall earning them the Finalist Alliance Trophy. This is an impressive achievement for any team, but especially so considering their rookie status.
The Highlander robotics team consists of many members that contribute to the design, building, and programming of the robot but the team was represented in this tournament by Michael Wu, Anna Song, and Beatriz Medeiros and coaches Nicole Manganelli and Kathleen Agnostak. Due to their stellar performance in the tournament, the team will now advance to the State Tournament hosted at NJIT on February 28th. The robotics team would like to extend their thanks to their supporters, which include the BHEF and the Berkeley Heights Board of Education.
(above r-l) The team represented in the tournament, Michael Wu, Anna Song, and Beatriz Medeiros.
(above) Excitement built during qualifying rounds.
