3-14-2024 4:47am

LOYOLA BLAKEFIELD ROBOTICS

Loyola Blakefield Robotics Finds Late Season Success

The 2024 CREATE U.S. Open Robotics Championship is the prestigious worldwide VEX Robotics competition that will see hundreds of high school teams from around the world compete from March 14 – 16. The Loyola team is heading to Iowa this weekend.

The robotics program has experienced continued success in competitions over the past two weekends. At Calvert Hall's Cardinal Classic on Jan. 21, Loyola fielded eight teams, and for the second year in a row, a Loyola team came away with the top prize! Four of our eight teams made it to the elimination rounds. Three of these teams made it to the quarterfinals, two to the semifinals, and Team 7135D consisting of John Flukinger '26, Eli Eib '26, and Nicholas Miller '26 came away with the top prize due to a strategic alliance with a South Hagerstown High School team.

Then, on Saturday, January 28, the Robo-Dons hosted more than 50 teams in Knott Hall for their Blakefield Robotics Challenge II where Team 7135X, represented by Brendan Reiners '23, Ben Sage '23 and A.J. Preller '23, made it all the way to the finals.

In addition, four of our middle school teams have officially qualified for the Maryland VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) Middle School State Championship at Hereford Middle School on February 18: Team 7135A – Ryan Verch '29 and Jay Cloman '27Team 7135B – Andy McHugh '28, Asher Corbin '29, Will Gaarder '29, and Mark Flukinger '29Team 7135R – Alek Ramsey '29, Kaelin Ransome '29, Dan Price '28, Kellan Rellihan '28, and Will Barker '29Team 7135Z – Cole Rohrbach '27, Billy Novotny '28, Nick Fought '27, and Landon Dickerson-Tieperman '27

These teams have worked hard since early in the fall, designing, building, testing, and developing their robot designs. Many of these students are new to the club this year and have grown in knowledge and competitiveness throughout the year.