Duluth School Board Presentation
On June 11, the Daredevils will be meeting with the Duluth School Board to give a presentation and discuss the prospect of adding a machine shop to Duluth East High School. This would eliminate the need to shuttle students back and forth from the commercial machine shop at Archer Racing, and allow this High School robotics program to become more sustainable. The presentation will take place at Historic Old Central High School (215 N 1st Avenue East Duluth, MN 55802) in the Board Room starting at 4:15 PM and wrapping up around 5:00 PM. Please plan to attend as we would love your support at this event.
2013 Banquet
On Sunday, May 19, the Daredevils had their annual end of the year banquet. Parents of Daredevil team members generously provided various appetizers, entrees, and desserts. The banquet gave our fabrication departments the opportunity to present Arcana to all of the attendees and answer questions as well as showcase our 2013 banquet video which featured highlights from our 2012-2013 season. Throughout the evening various awards were presented to many deserving Daredevils. Some of the awards included the Daredevil Rookie All Star Award, the Daredevil of the Year Award, and various special awards created for certain team members. In addition, our team said good bye to our six graduating seniors and presented them with their team pillow cases made from one of our team t-shirts for their dorms. One of these seniors is our team captain, Kirsi Kuutti, who has been with us for four years and captained for three years. However, this means we get to say hello to our two new co-captains, current freshman Anna Karas, and sophomore Karl Frisk. The evening was also the perfect time to thank our sponsors for their generous support as Arcana would not exist without them.
MSHSL State Championship
See us in action! Click below for the FRC MSHSL State Championship live broadcast. Due to the fact that this is only the second time this Championship has occurred, MSHSL has not set up match schedules, match results, or team rankings. Please enjoy the live broadcast and we will continue to update you on our match results.
Please note that all match times are approximate and that the schedule is often behind or early.
2512′s Match Schedule:
- 8:58 AM, #2, Blue Alliance, 142-82, win
- 9:20 AM, #6, Red Alliance, 85-54, win
- 10:23, #15, Blue Alliance, 144-94, win
- 10:58, #20, Red Alliance, 89-110, loss
- 11:12, #22, Red Alliance, 78-67, win
- 12:08, #30, Red Alliance, 78-67, win
- 1:46, #33, Red Alliance, 73-73, tie
- 2:31, #39, Blue Alliance, 77-71, win
Our team was seeded fourth at the end of the Qualification Matches going into the alliance selections. We were picked by the second seeded team, Team 2977 Sir Lancer Bots from La Crescent, MN, and our final alliance member was Team 4656, Rock Solid Robotics from Two Harbors, MN. Together our alliance placed third out of the four final alliance teams.
Moving on to State Championship
On May 18 the Duluth East Daredevils will be competing in the 2013 MSHSL FIRST State Championship in the Williams Arena Sport Pavilion at the University of Minnesota. This is our first time competing at the State Championship which began in 2012. This competition will include the top 30 qualifying FIRST FRC Robotics teams from all around Minnesota. Heading to the State competition along with us is Rock Solid Robotics from Two Harbors, who also attended the 2013 FIRST World Championships. Admission is free and the schedule is listed below.
Schedule:
8:00 a.m. Doors open to spectators
9:00 a.m. Preliminary rounds
1:30 p.m. Alliance selections
2:30 p.m. Semifinals, followed by finals
The awards ceremony will immediately follow the finals.
Championships Come to an End
The Daredevils were proud to represent Duluth on the world’s robotic stage April 24-27 in St. Louis, MO. This is the team’s third time going down to St. Louis for this prestigious competition, but this year the experience was different. After winning the Midwest Regional the Daredevils had a new experience in St. Louis. Suddenly the young team from Duluth, MN was the team that won among the seasoned veteran teams in Chicago. Mentors and teammates were stopped and talked to daily about their successes there. Suddenly the team found itself part of the buzz of the competition.
Each year at Worlds the goal of the team is to improve their performance by cutting their ranking in half. The team was very proud of their performance at the world level and more than surpassed their goals. At the end of the Qualification Rounds, the Daredevils were seeded 10th, a more than 50% cut from last year’s final seed of 23rd. There were 15 teams that came to World Championship from Minnesota but only four teams made it to the quarterfinals like the Daredevils. The Daredevils rallied for three matches in the quarterfinals before being eliminated in their division of 100 robots. The winner of our Galileo division won the Championship on Einstein.
Overall, competing at the world level was an extremely positive experience for all of us. The Daredevils were able to talk with other teams from around the world. Team members also had the opportunity to take a walk through scholarship row, where colleges hand out information about their schools and FIRST scholarships. Students were ambassadors and tour guides to distinguished guest, met famous personalities, and networked with businesses. Our team captain Kirsi was a Dean’s List Finalist and was been recognized for her dedication to our team and FIRST as well as spreading the message of FIRST throughout the community. She also received a prize package from FIRST.
The impact of this competition for the students and mentors was far-reaching. Students attending World Championship not only were competing with their robot at the highest level in their sport, but they were also among the brightest minds in US. Inspirational speeches and messages from FIRST were highlighted throughout the competition. Students also had the opportunity to visit the St. Louis City Museum and the St. Louis Arch rounding out their overall experience.
Having the opportunity to participate at the World Championships was spectacular. However, the sesason is not officially over yet as the Daredevils’ still have the State Championship coming up May 18 at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities.
We’d like to thank our sponsors and the community for the amazing support that we’ve had throughout the 2013 World Championships, and we’re looking forward to a great state competition! Please stay tuned for more news from the Duluth East Daredevils Team 2512.
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