Last week at the Northeastern University District Qualifying Event, Newton’s award-winning FIRST Robotics team, the Ligerbots, won the Team Spirit award and captained the three-team alliance that won second place overall.  The Ligerbots won 8 of 12 qualification rounds and then, with two alliance partners, won second place through 7 more matches.

Winning the previous WPI competition through a grueling 19 rounds took a toll on the Ligerbots’ robot, including a bent chassis and broken arm!  To prepare for the Northeastern competition, the team fine-tuned their robot, improvising solutions during scheduled access periods.

The Ligerbots will now move on to the New England FRC Regional Championship at Boston University on April 10-12.  The team is already considering any shifts in game strategy or adjustments to the robot/programming they may want to employ for this competition.  Come cheer them on!  All FIRST competitions are open to the public, free, and a blast to watch.

What makes FIRST unique and successful is the collaboration among students (46 from Newton North and South High Schools), coaches (Chuck Hurwitz, John Fitzpatrick), mentors (many!), and sponsors (PTC, Raytheon, NDEP, McVittie Tax Advisors, At Once Inc., Whole Foods, Newton Schools Foundation, and the Newton Public Schools).