Pub: 1-29-18
The Lytle Junior High Techno Pirates took home a trophy at the South San Antonio Metro League Championship and qualified for a chance to advance to area competition.
The Techno Pirates competed with their robot against 31 teams and also scored points by giving a presentation to judges about their engineering process.
It was their Lytle spirit that helped them take home a trophy, however. The Techno Pirates were given the Motivate award after judges observed their teamwork and desire to educate other students about robotics.
The junior high’s performance on the field did not match their success in the judging room as the Techno Pirates lost all their preliminary matches Saturday. Their large point total going into the championship kept them in the top half of the rankings, however.
It was the team’s ability to connect with other schools that saved them from elimination at the end of the preliminary matches when a Lytle Junior High student approached one of the schools who had qualified for the semifinals and proposed an alliance with our team. After some deliberation by both teams, the alliance was formed and the Techno Pirates were in the semifinals.
Lytle Junior high and their alliance won the first round in the semis, but lost in the second, putting them in 10th position for advancement. Only nine teams advanced directly to area competition, but due to being so close to qualifying, the Techno Pirates were invited to a second chance qualifier at Brandeis High School in San Antonio in two weeks. If they qualify at that event, they will compete against some of the top schools in the state the following Saturday.
The Techno Pirates are: Grace Jurss, Katelyn Rubal, Alex Medina, Morgan Walker, Ashley Pierce, Isabella Lopez, Jade Ibanez, Faustino Ruiz, Zachary Bradshaw and Miguel Lopez.
Lytle Junior High Robotics Coach