On Saturday, March 16, both GHS robotics teams, CTRL+ALT+DESTROY and Need More Zip Ties, competed in the FTC Indiana State Championship in Crawfordsville. Thirty-two teams from all over Indiana travelled to compete for the four spots advancing to the FTC World Championship. Although CTRL+ALT+DESTROY has advanced to the state championship before, this was the first time for Need More Zip Ties, who are a second year team, this season. Both GHS robotics teams had a wonderful experience at the state championship, and were more than excited at the fact that they had both advanced there together for the first time.

Each team competed in five qualifying matches throughout the day. Need More Zip Ties won two out of five of their matches and seeded 19th in the qualifying match rankings. They did not advance to the semi finals but competed extremely well in the qualifying matches and ended their season with a bang. They also placed third for the Innovate Award, which compliments the innovative ideas they came up with and the design of their robot.

Team captain of Need More Zip Ties, freshman Jacoba Babin, said, “We performed very well for us. We just had a few weak alliances. It was still highly gratifying to have made it to the state championship. As it was my first year attending, I didn’t know what to expect. Everyone there was so polite and happy to be there.”

CTRL+ALT+DESTROY won four out of five of their matches, and seeded sixth in the qualifying match rankings. They also advanced to the semi-finals where they were second picked by alliance captain Warrior Tech and team Pixelated from Granger. CTRL+ALT+DESTROY made it to the finals and won the state championship alongside Warrior Tech and Pixelated, as well. Four teams advanced to the world championship that day, and CTRL+ALT+DESTROY was one of them! They will be travelling to Detroit, Michigan on April 23 to compete alongside hundreds of teams from around the world on April 24 until April 27. This is the first time CTRL+ALT+DESTROY has advanced to the world championship in their four years as an FTC team, and everything they’ve done has led them to this historic moment.

Junior Ryan Davenport, lead programmer for CTRL+ALT+DESTROY and rookie to FTC, said, “Since it was the state tournament, the competition we had was a lot tougher, but we rose to the challenge and ended up state champions.”

CTRL+ALT+DESTROY also submitted for and won the Control Award, which compliments all of the programming done for the robot in autonomous and tele-operational as well as all of the sensors used. They were then gifted a trophy and individual medals for being the second team picked in the winning alliance. Head coach of CTRL+ALT+DESTROY, Gracia Dudlicek, was awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award, which compliments all of the selfless energy, hard work, and commitment she has put into the FIRST organization.

“I was most proud of winning the Control Award since it’s for programming, because I’m the lead programmer. It had special meaning to me when we won that,” said Davenport.

Both GHS robotics teams took something very special away from this season and are looking forward to the future. For CTRL+ALT+DESTROY, they are planning and anticipating the FTC World Championship in four weeks. For Need More Zip Ties, they have already started planning for next season and how they can improve to be the very best they can be.

“I am proud of the friendships that have grown over the season, and how they have helped us hold together. It caused us to keep strong in the challenges that we faced, and helped us to face them together,” said Babin.