Local FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Team 8711 The Gas Attendants of the E3 Robotics Center in Elkhart won the West Virginia State Championship Dec 8. FIRST denotes For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

E3 Robotics Center is a non-profit that focuses on robotics for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, along with partnering with area schools and other community youth organizations to create an impact using STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs and robotics.

The West Virginia State Championships hosted robotics teams from eight different states as they competed at Fairmont State University in this years FIRST Tech Challenge Game, according to officials with E3 Robotics Center. FIRST Tech Challenge is one of four programs providing robotics competitions for more than 80 countries worldwide. FIRST Tech Challenge is designed for students in seventh through 12th grades to compete head-to-head in a sports-like playing field.

This years game SKYSTONE had teams collecting stones, which look like large LEGO blocks, and stacking them on top of a movable foundation. Teams compete in a 2-on-2 match to try to outscore the other side with points.

In the morning of the event, The Gas Attendants placed sixth in Qualifying Rounds in which teams win matches to move up in rankings before the elimination brackets in the afternoon.

The Gas Attendants proceeded to make the elimination bracket as one of the Alliance Captains, which allowed them to pick the partner they would like to play with in eliminations. The team selected Team 8297 Geared UP!, a part of Ashburn Robotics in Virginia. The two teams started at the bottom of the elimination bracket and had to compete against all the teams ranked above them, a news release about the event states.

The Gas Attendants and Geared UP! ended going undefeated through all of the elimination brackets and winning the finals match by one point.

The Gas Attendants also won the 2nd place Rockwell Collins Innovate Award for their robot design and, because they were the Winning Alliance Captains, were also invited to the Maryland Tech Invitational to be held in June 2020, where the top teams from around the world will be invited to compete.

The Gas Attendants are going into their sixth year as a team, and are now on their second generation of students since original members have graduated and gone to college. The team consists of 10 students, almost all of them rookies to this years team, a few of them being younger siblings of the original members of the team.

The team only had funds to take four of the 10 members to compete at the West Virginia state championship; consequently as a team they decided who they would be able to send to represent the team. They hope to raise more funds to allow them to travel more to several of the other top tournaments and events they will be invited to this season, officials with the company stated.

Members include: Devyn Clements, Drew Clements, Ashlyn Harradon, Ian Hornblower, Avery Mantyla, Nick McClimon, Isaac McClimon, Zach Poplar, Killian Townsend and Breanna Wormuth.

The Gas Attendants will now start their local competitions in Indiana.

To learn more about The Gas Attendants or the E3 Robotics Program, follow them on social media or visit e3robotics.org for more information.

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Local robotics team gets victory in West Virginia championship - Goshen News