Vex Robotics High School State Championship Finals for Michigan were held February 23 and 24, 2024. Eighty teams arrived at Kettering University for the two day competition. All 80 teams earned an invitation during the normal season from September to early February, thus when they arrived were randomly divided into two divisions, Gold and Blue and competed on the Consumers Energy competition fields in match play of eight round-robin matches on Saturday February 24. There were four Skills Competition Fields set up at State to earn Skills scores as well. The champion of Skills Competition and the Semi-Finalists in match play earned automatic entries into the Vex World Competition in April in Dallas, Texas.
Grand Rapids Christian Schools had 5 Eaglebots teams earn their way into the State Tournament: 63600A August, 63600C January, 63600D V.E.W.T.S., 63600E Mercy, and 63600G Buzzkill.
Skills competition runs started Friday evening February 23 and continued through the day on Saturday, with several Eaglebots establishing good first runs and strong finishing runs in both the autonomous portion and the driver portion, which after three runs of each take the highest score in Driver and highest score in Programming autonomous runs combined for the total score overall in Skills. Eaglebots scored well among the best of the best in Michigan:
- Ranked 26 – 63600C January – Total Score: 264 (147 Driver, 117 Programming)
- Ranked 37 – 63600A August – Total Score: 242 (140 Driver, 102 Programming)
- Ranked 53 – 63600D V.E.W.T.S. – Total Score: 189 (107 Driver, 82 Programming)
- Ranked 54 – 63600G Buzzkill – Total Score: 187 (95 Driver, 92 Programming)
- Ranked 74 – 63600E Mercy – Total Score: 66 (Driver 38, Programming 28)
The round-robin match play started early Saturday morning and went through the day. Each team was randomly allied with another in their division, either Blue or Gold and battled other randomly assigned alliances in a 15 second programmed autonomous portion which led immediately into an intense 2:45 driving competition to score a many points this years game, Over/Under.
In Gold Division, 63600C January topped the Eaglebots teams with a record of 5-3 ranking them 16th out of the 40 teams. Mercy finished ranked 24th with a strong 4-4 performance.
In Blue Division, 63600A August led Eaglebots teams ranked 22nd with a 3-5 record followed closely by 63600G ranked 25 with the same record. In-game extra points that can be scored during autonomous are used to differentiate ties. 63600D V.E.W.T.S. had a tough go in this years state tournament and finished 1-7 in match play.
Using the rankings for final tournament 32 teams in each division were invited to play in the single-elimination matches to determine the state champion after the round-robin play. Eaglebots team united together to battle other alliances with 63600C allied with 63600E in Gold Division and 63600A allied with 63600G in Blue Division. Unfortunately both Eaglebots alliances were defeated in competitive matches with the Gold alliance losing 81-72 and our Blue alliance losing 147-50.
Awards are rare and few given in tournaments, leaving many successful teams and programs without a trophy each year at the state tournament. There were eleven judged awards given at the end of the competition for a variety of categories. Among the many great teams that earn an award was the GRCS Eaglebots team 63600C January, who took home the 2024 State of Michigan Championship Judges Award!
From the Vex Robotics website:
“The Judges Award recognizes attributes that may not fit in other award categories and the Judges felt were deserving of special recognition. The Judges Award is a required award if Judging is being conducted at an event.
Key criteria of the Judges Award are:
Team displays special attributes, exemplary effort, or perseverance at the event.
Team overcomes an obstacle or challenge and achieves a goal or special accomplishment.
Team interview demonstrates effective communication skills, teamwork, professionalism, and a student-centered ethos.”
Congratulations to 63600C January on the state tournament judges award and to all the teams who had amazing year in Vex Robotics at Grand Rapids Christian Schools!