Gunston Robotics Place First, Headed to Regional Championships in April

The Gunston School Robotics Team, the ‘Honey Nut Gearios,’ captured the number one ranking out of 36 teams at the First Tech Challenge (FTC)  Laurel qualifier on February 5. The robotics team now advances to the FTC Regional Championship for Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. on April 8 & 9. Additionally, the software team, led by Ju Lee ’22 with Damian Rene ’23, won second place in the Control Award category.

The Regional Championship will be held at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va. The top three teams will then go on to the world championship in Texas.

From left, Andrew Steele ’22, Sam LeCrone ’22, Robert Crow ’22 (kneeling), Damian Rene ’23 and Ju Lee ’22.

“I’m incredibly proud of these students, and they worked beautifully together as a team,” shared coach and Science Department Chair Dr. Ken Wilson “They labored afternoons and weekends for months, and they triumphed over some of the top high schools in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C.” Gunston’s Head of School John Lewis added, “Dr. Wilson is a gifted physicist and coach, and we’re so grateful for his commitment to building a superb and comprehensive robotics program at Gunston.”

For this qualifier, Samantha LeCrone ’22 acted as coach with Robert Crow ’22 as the driver, Andrew Steele ’22 operating the robot arm, and Damian Rene ’23 and Ju Lee ’22 in charge of the software.

Additional team members not at the competition include Ashton Seaman ’22, Noah Friel ’22 and Alex Bent ’25 (hardware), Grace Evans ’23 (branding, public relations and portfolio) and Ava Duvall ’22 (3D printing of specialty parts). Click here to read more about Gunston Robotics.

Founded in 1911, The Gunston School is an independent, nonprofit, nonsectarian, coeducational, college preparatory high school located in Centreville, Maryland. Visit gunston.org for more information.