Girard, Warren take second in statewide robotics competition

Staff report

DAYTON

The Girard High School RoboCats and the Warren Harding High School Delphi E.L.I.T.E. robotics teams finished in second place in the 2015 Ohio State FIRST Robotics championships in Dayton on Saturday.

Girard’s team entered the state championship competition as the No. 1 seed of the top 24 teams in Ohio. It formed its alliance with Warren’s team, along with Fairfield High School’s robotics team, in the finals. Teams from Austintown Fitch and Champion High School also competed in the state tournament but were eliminated in quarterfinal competition, according to Judy Barber, adviser and head coach for the RoboCats.

The No. 1 champions’ alliance this year consisted of these teams: Stellar Robotics from Mansfield, CardinalBot from Columbus and Red Plague from Centerburg.

Members of the 24 teams had six weeks to design, build and strategize for this year’s state championship. The focus of this year’s event was on proper stacking by the robots, according to Barber.

FIRST Robotics stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.”

Saturday’s championship took place at Thurgood Marshall High School in Dayton and was the final event of the 2014-15 competitive season.