Laureles Elementary Repeats as District Robotics Champs

For the third straight year, Laureles Elementary captured the Elementary School Division of the Los Fresnos CISD Robotics Competition held Saturday at Resaca Middle School Gymnasium.

The team “Lightning Bolt” made up of Vianca Gonzalez, Belen Galvan, Andrew Bravo and Angel Silva, took first place out of 32 teams in the elementary division with 825 points.

Laureles also took the second place trophy with the team Megabots, which finished close behind with 800 points. Team members were Angelica Hernandez, Bryana Garcia, Luis Benhumea and Savannah Esquivel.

Coaches for Laureles were Angela Dunkin and Leo Robles.

The “Strong Paws” team from Lopez-Riggins Elementary finished third with 690 points. Team members are Christian Siva, Cristian Rodriguez, Adrian Escobedo and John Stevens. Coaches were Gabriel Barreto and Rachel Konig.

The top three elementary teams scored more points than the top teams in the middle school division.

Eleven teams competed in the Middle School Division. Award winners were:

First Place: Liberty Memorial Middle School Robot Warriors, 570 points. Team members William Flores, Andrew De Agven and David Peta; Coaches Lonnie Lopez and Jaime Cerecero;

Second Place: Liberty Memorial Middle School Avengers, 555 points. Team members Christian Lopez, Matthew Ovalle and Carlos Salinas.

Third Place: Resaca Middle School Super Galactic Fireballs, 470 points. Team members Hector Saucedo, Charles Bush and Dylan Rodriguez; Coach Lacy Trevino.

Four teams competed in the high school division. Award winners were:

First Place: Los Fresnos United Team History, 770 points. Team members Isaac Flores, Christian Peña and Alexis Luna; Coach David Burlingame.

Second Place: Los Fresnos High School Instructions Not Included. Team members Larry Muñoz, Joshua Salazar and Azarel Ruiz; Coach Brian Martinez.

Third Place: Los Fresnos High School Paladins. Team members Oswald Erdmenger, Mateo garcia, Mercedes Ortiz and Jose Paulin.

This year’s theme is titled “Power Up” and is designed around the theme of energy and power storage.

The district competition is a preliminary meet for the Texas Computer Educators Association (TCEA) Area Competition, scheduled Jan. 23, 2016, at Riverside Middle School in San Benito.

“Power Up” is the 2015-16 TCEA Mindstorms Robotics Challenge for 2015-16. For “Power Up,” the game pieces consist of 3/4” PVC couplers and Wiffle balls that are the size of golf balls. The game field is a manufacturing facility specifically designed to manufacture a special kind of super battery.

Each year teams of students, sponsored by members of TCEA, receive a set of challenge rules and specifications designed around a theme that varies from year to year. Teams compete against one another in head-to-head competition through regional and state level play.