Over the weekend, the robotics team, Laker Robotics, competed at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. They had to compete against 40 other schools, including Waterford Kettering. They finished the qualification rounds with a record of 7-4-1 and was ranked in 11th place. They had an average score of 225 points per match and the normal match average was 164. Laker Robotics ended up being the 4th overall pick for the tournament. They were picked by team 6101 and team 5066 rounded off the extremely strong 4th alliance. Laker Robotics clearly had the most experience on the alliance since they have won two other district event in past years. The alliance formed a strategy and Laker Robotics was the engine that was going to drive everything.

Laker Robotics had to face Kettering High School and team 1023, who was the best team in Michigan two years ago, in the first round of playoffs. Kettering and team 1023 couldn’t keep up with the fast scoring of the 4th alliance. Laker Robotics beat them in two match and moved on to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals they had to face the number one alliance, who was a scoring machine. For some reason the first alliance was afraid of the scoring ability of Laker Robotics and ended up going this a defensive strategy. That strategy didn’t pay off though because Laker Robotics and their alliance beat them in two games and were on their way to the finals. Laker Robotics had to play the 3rd alliance, but the finals was smooth sailing. They defeated the 3rd alliance in two more matches and won their third district event. Laker Robotics went undefeated in the tournament. They also had a preprogrammed autonomous routine that could place a gear and shoot, which has only been seen in 9 out of the 810 matches throughout the world. Laker Robotics also averages 304 points per match in the tournament and the normal match average for the tournament was 199. Laker Robotics helped both team 6101 and team 5066 win their first district event ever.