Natick High School Robotics Teams Qualify For State Competition

NATICK, MA- All three robotics teams from Natick High School earned their tickets to the state competition in March, and in varying way.

One of the Natick High School teams, the Lightning Hawks competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge competition on Feb. 2 in Andover and progressed to the state competition by winning the Inspire award. "Winning Inspire means a team is good at everything," team coach Clark Clements said. The award recognizes teams that compete with Gracious Professionalism, a cornerstone of the FIRST Tech Challenge program, both on and off the field. The award also recognizes robot design and performance as well as teamwork and community outreach.

The second team Natick High School team that advanced to the state competition was the Aluminum Cobblers. The Cobblers earned their ticket to the competition by winning a qualifier this past weekend in Needham. The qualifier was their second and they were close to victory during their first qualifier, coming in second. "After much work improving their robot and practicing driving it over the month of January, they won their second qualifier," Clements said.

The third Natick High School team, Hank's Tanks, is making their way to the state competition after the high school's robotics club, RoboNatick, agreed to host a qualifier at the school- giving the club one free pass into the state competition. Clements said this has been a rebuilding year for the Hank's Tanks, as many seniors from the team have graduated. Clements wanted all the teams to have the opportunity to step foot in the state competition, "We are using that pass to take 3737 (Hank's Tanks), so all three of our teams will be competing on March 2nd," he said.

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Photo: Lightning Hawk Team; Credit: Jeff Sternick, RoboNatick Parent