Royal Rebel Engineers ready to take on Texas

Royal+Rebel+Engineering+team+8898+smiling+with+their+awards+at+the+end+of+the+Los+Angeles+Regional+Competition.+%28Photo+Provided+by+Megan+Martinez%29

Royal Rebel Engineering team 8898 smiling with their awards at the end of the Los Angeles Regional Competition. (Photo Provided by Megan Martinez)

Elena Walz, Editor-in-Chief

Last weekend, Rosary Academy’s robotics team, number 8898, put down an impressive and historic performance at the F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Los Angeles Regional Competition. With little prior experience in F.I.R.S.T. competitions, the young team is excited to boast the titles of Highest Seeded Rookie and Allstar Rookie Awards, both of which earned them a bid to the F.I.R.S.T. World Championship in Houston.

Getting started mere weeks before their first week of competitions, the team wanted to wait until the end of Red and Gold to begin construction and coding. Lead by seniors Katie Fang and Emily La, the team advanced to the F.I.R.S.T. league which, according to Katie, “are much bigger than the VEX Robotics Competitions we usually do.’

The team is coached by Rosary’s own Mr. Gangler and Mr. Guerrero. When asked about his expectation for the team, Mr. Gangler shared, “They built a robot and it worked. The prophecy came true.” Mr. Guerrero had additional thoughts on his experience coaching the team stating, “the best part was seeing their interactions with the other students and competition. In particular, seeing their confidence rise from the first to the last day because they went in not knowing anything and came out knowing a lot more.”

Megan Martinez ’24 and Sabrina Piazza ’23 posing in front of their robot. (Photo Provided by Megan Martinez)

Leading up to the competition, the girls worked hard building and coding their robot. Coder Sabrina Piazza ’23, shared, “Being a coder in robotics has been a really fun experience I’ve been able to take the concepts I learned in class and apply them to something as cool as building a robot. I also want to minor or major in computer science because I think it’s a really creative field for a world that is becoming more automated.”

In two weeks, the Royal Rebels will fly to Houston, Texas to take part in the F.I.R.S.T. World Championship, a competition that draws high school students from all over America and even around the world. The limit does not exist for these talented young women!