DCS takes state title in robotics competition

An alliance between Delhi Charter team B, “The Minutemen” and St. Paul team E, “Robowolves” pulled off a devastating win against the Holy Cross teams C and H “Robotigers” at the 2016 Louisiana State VEX Robotics Championship.  

Team captain and driver Layne Reddick, lead spotter Alex Sullivan, head mechanic Devin Rone, and lead scout Nicole New competed against the top 24 teams in the state.  

The Minutemen finished the sixty-round tournament without losing a single match.   The final score for the Delhi-St.Paul alliance was 184 points to Holy Cross’s 144 points.

DCS team A, “Metal Revolution”, led by Matthew Purvis and Caleb Holloway, also made a strong showing during the championship, accumulating 642 strength points throughout the event, more than any other team competing that day.   Strength points are determined by the losing team’s score of each match, so more strength points meant your team was facing tougher opponents.

In addition to the state championship win, DCS also won first place in the driver skills challenge by scoring an astounding 136 points in one minute.  Second place in driver skills went to St. Michael High School, who scored 90 points in one minute.

Winning the state championship has been a major goal for Delhi Charter since it began competing in the VEX robotics competition a year ago. 

That year, Delhi Charter was defeated by Holy Cross, the three-year state champions, in the final match of the championship. 

 After that near victory, the DCS robotics team worked diligently throughout the summer, after school, on weekends, and through holidays to perfect their robots for this year’s season;  effort that clearly paid off with this year’s state championship victory.

Next up DCS will compete at the VEX World’s Championship in Louisville, KY on April 20-23.  There the Minutemen will face off against other champions from all 50 states and over 27 other countries around the World.