A District By Any Other Name Would Smell Just As Sweet
The cubes say MAR, but the banner above them says [i]FIRST Mid-Atlantic…
2018 MAR (FMA?) District Championship Recap
Alliance Selections
-
For the fourth time this season, **2590 **
ranked 1st after Qualification Matches, with only a single match loss and a ranking average of 3.58. For the first overall pick of the competition, NJ’s top team choose their PA counterpart, 225. Between the two, they have won every single MAR District Championship other than the inaugural playing in 2012, with 2590 winning in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2017, and 225 winning in both 2015 and 2016. Completing this powerhouse alliance, somehow, was 2016, who was arguably the best Switch/Exchange bot in MAR this season. With the rest of MAR somehow letting the Mighty Monkey Wrenches fall to the last pick of the draft (seriously, who let that happen?), they certainly had an uphill battle to face. As expected, this #1 alliance easily fought their way to the Finals, claiming the elimination high score of 467 in Quarterfinal 1, Match 2. -
Beating out 56 by only a single ranking point, 3-time 2018 event winners **25 **
ranked 2nd, with a ranking average of an even 3.00. To join their raid they selected their 2012 MAR Champs winning alliance partners and swerve drive specialists, 1640, from all the way down in 20th place. 8 World Championship Division titles, 5 to 25 and 3 to 1640, belong to two these two teams, but never in the same year. In the same vein, for their second pick 25 selected 1089, their 2016 MAR Champs finalist alliance partner, from rank 45. With 25 working with Mercury on some new auto modes for the playoffs, the #2 alliance also found themselves competing in the finals, albeit winning Quarterfinal 3, Match 2 by just one point.
Finals
-
In Finals 1
, RLR plate placement gives blue the advantage in auto, with both 1640 and 25 placing their cubes on the scale while 225 misses both of their cubes. But, 2016 is able to get two cubes on their switch. Blue strikes quickly to double down on their lead with both 25 and 1640 putting additional cubes up on the scale, while 225 and 2590 both drop a cube trying to claim the scale for red. 2016 attempts to defend against 25 as their partners struggle for the scale, but not even this low bot could stop the legendary Raider Robotix drivetrain. With 77 seconds to go red finally takes over the scale, but just as blue forces ownership two cubes fall off the scale for red. Nonetheless, red still maintains ownership until the last 30 seconds, when 1640 steals it for blue. But, with 25 always wanting to do one better, Raider Robotix knocks off 3 cubes while trying to add one more to the heap, flipping the scale back to red. 2016 got stuck on one of 2590’s carbon fiber arms with the clock quickly running out, but even with 225 pushing them on in the final seconds only 2590 is able to get high enough for red, with 1640 successful climbing for blue. When the buzzer sounds blue takes the win and the lead in the series, with a final score of 382-341. -
With LLL plate placement in Finals 2
, both 2590 and 225 are able to get their auto cubes on the scale with 225 almost getting a second, while 25 got theirs on for blue with 1640 missing. In teleop, with the scale being in red’s favor, 2590 immediately begins attacking the blue switch, while 225 piles on more cubes onto the scale. 25 eventually gets another one on the scale for blue, but 1640 drops their cube twice. Raider Robotix drops another as they attempt to go up again, and also knock down their previously placed cube as well. With 72 seconds to go and a lead off 110 points, red utilizes their Level 3 Boost Power Up to try to pull away. Blue finally takes back ownership of their scale, but red is swiftly able to reclaim it. With red owning both switches and the scale, it appears that 25’s drivetrain breaks down as 225 pushes them against the wall as the 30-second whistle sounds. After another nudge by 225, 2016 is able to get fully on 2590’s arms, and red pushes back with an landslide 456-190 win, pushing it the series to a rubber match. -
The plate placement, LRL, falls in red’s favor in Finals 3
, with 225 getting two out of three cubes on the scale in auto, while 2590 places theirs on the switch with 2016 adding two more. As drivers race to the controls, 2590 and 1640 begin fighting for cubes, while 225 again gets to work on the blue switch. 25 and 1640 attempt to fight for the switch, but Raider Robotix peels off to work on their own switch and the vault as they begin to experience control issues. Oddly enough, 2590, the opposing captain also positioned in the center driver station, also seems to lose comm at the exact same time. Coincidence? The MARtian thinks not. With only a minute to go, only 4 robots on the field are fighting for the District Championship title. Now down their main climbing bot, 225 takes position on the platform with over 40 seconds left, but almost tips over as they rush out to defend against 1640. 2590 comes back to life as the 30-second whistle blows, but with 25 still sitting motionless blue is unable to fight back. With a full vault and scale ownership for 119 of teleop’s 135 seconds, the #1 alliance of 2590, 225, and **2016 **walk away victorious, with a score of 449-269.
2590 and 225 respectively brought home their third blue banner of the season, while 2016 earned their first competition win since the New Jersey Regional and Archimedes Division way back in 2011.
Awards Ceremony
-
In the Awards Ceremony, 2729
, who had won EI at the District level back in 2013 and 2015, earned their first ever District Championship Engineering Inspiration Award. And so too did 3637, the only team eligible for both Chairman’s and EI at MAR Champs this season, and who had never won EI in any years prior. Meanwhile, **272 **was crowned back-to-back District Championship Chairman’s Award winners, and Philly’s own **321 **took home their third District Championship Chairman’s Award in four years, winning it previously in both 2015 and 2016. Congratulations! -
After skipping the award last year, MAR did give out Rookie All-Star at MAR Champs this season, and much deservingly it went to 6860
, Equitum Robotics from International High in Paterson, NJ! 6860 had earned Rookie All-Star at the Mount Olive District and Rookie Inspiration at Bridgewater-Raritan, where they also finished the competition as Finalists! Best of luck to our rookies as they venture to the World Champs next week! Follow their adventure on their team Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/equitumrobotics6860/! -
And last but certainly not least, congrats to Woodie Flowers Finalist Kevin Killian
of 1676, Volunteer of the Year Carol Perrotto of 365, and our Dean’s Lists Finalists Hannah Epstein of 1676, Jared Falk of 365, Elizabeth Olshanetsky of 1807, and Janum Shah of 1403!
Advancing to World Champs
As shown in Table 10-11 of the 2018 FRC Game and Season Manual, MAR had 22 slots to give out to the 2018 World Championships: 2 Chairman’s Awards, 2 Engineering Inspiration Awards, 1 Rookie All-Star Award, 3 Event Winners, and the next highest 14 ranked teams based on District Points. Not counted in these 22 slots are MAR’s 3 Hall of Fame Teams 103, 341, and 365, as well as the 2017 World Champions 1676. The regional wins by 303, 2590, and **3314 **do count against MAR’s 14 point slots, but since since Nemesis went on to win MAR Champs, that winner slot instead revived the point slot that they had eliminated previously, bumping the number of available point slots back up to 12. Furthermore, **4361 **and **555 **both earned waitlist spots to the Detroit World Championship, which also do not count against MAR’s allotment of 22 slots. With that said, the following 28 MAR teams have advanced to the 2017 FRC World Championship in Detroit:
**Team # (Final District Ranking) - Qualification Method**
**2590 **(1) - Hudson Valley Regional Winner
**225 **(2) - MAR DCMP Winner
**25 **(3) - Point Slot #1
**1640 **(4) - Point Slot #2
**1218 **(5) - Point Slot #3
**1712 **(6) - Point Slot #4
**303 **(7) - Greater Pittsburgh Regional Winner
**56 **(8) - Point Slot #5
**3314 **(9) - Buckeye Regional Winner
**365 **(10) - Hall of Fame
**1391 **(11) - Point Slot #6
**2016 **(12) - MAR DCMP Winner
**1923 **(13) - Point Slot #7
**1676 **(14) - 2017 World Champions
**5404 **(15) - Point Slot #8
**4342 **(16) - Point Slot #9
**2729 **(17) - MAR DCMP Engineering Inspiration Award
**747 **(18) - Point Slot #10
**708 **(19) - Point Slot #11
**316 **(20) - Point Slot #12
**272 **(27) - MAR DCMP Chairman's Award
**6860 **(28) - MAR DCMP Rookie All-Star Award
**3637 **(29) - MAR DCMP Engineering Inspiration Award
**103 **(31) - Hall of Fame
**4361 **(39) - Waitlist
**321 **(40) - MAR DCMP Chairman's Award
**341 **(50) - Hall of Fame
**555 **(95) - Waitlist
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more confusing, two MAR teams, 709 and 2234, who both only attended a single MAR District Event this season, competed at the 2018 Long Island Regional #1 just days after MAR Champs ended. And lo and behold, 2234, the last ranked team in MAR, won the event (along with teams from Turkey and Michigan - Sorry NY!)! But, wouldn’t a MAR team winning an outside regional subtract from MAR’s total World Championship allocation, effectively eliminating a point slot? Well, as it turns out FIRST ended up granting MAR an additional World Championship slot this year, due to the unique circumstances of a MAR team playing at a regional event after the District Championship. Nonetheless, congratulations to 2234 and all of the 29 teams from MAR that will be battling it out at the inaugural FRC World Championship(s)!
2018 Houston World Championship Preview
- Everyone knows that flowers prefer warm weather, and apparently so does Miss Daisy! Using their mystical Hall of Fame powers, **341 **
has elected to take a ride down to the Space City to compete at the 2018 Houston FRC World Championship. And, as if by fate itself, the Daisies landed themselves in the Carver Subdivision, named after botanist George Washington Carver, who developed techniques to improve the quality of soils and plants.
This season, 341 has a record of 30-21, making it to the Finals of the Montgomery MAR District Event and to the Semi-Finals of the Westtown MAR District and out at the Midwest Regional. While they might not have had the start to the season they had hoped for, they have been sprouting higher and higher every step of the way, from ranking 23rd, to 13th, all the way up to cracking the top 8.
Their World Championship history is certainly an eventful one. After winning the 2003 Galileo Division they went on to win the World Championship Entrepreneurship Award that same year, and followed it up with the World Championship Judge’s Award in 2005. In 2006, 341 earned the World Championship Sportsmanship - GP Award, and in 2008 they won the World Championship Entrepreneurship Award again. Come 2009, they were awarded the World Championship Engineering Inspiration Award, and finally, in 2010, they brought home the grand-daddy of them all, the World Championship Chairman’s Award, and became the 3rd and most recent MAR team to enter the Hall of Fame. If you haven’t seen their winning Chairman’s Award video, you should certainly check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AzvT02ZCNk!
Their journey this season has been inspiring as well. After struggle after struggle when it came to their climbing mechanism, they never gave up, dug down deep, and blossomed just in time for their first competition. With Division Finals appearances recently in both 2012 and 2014, Miss Daisy hopes that their nimble intake and arm and their lighting-fast climb will allow them to reach full bloom this weekend.
Best of luck to the lone MAR team in the Lone Star State - We’ll all be ***root***ing for you this weekend! (Admit it, you laughed at that)
The Mr. Moe Show!
Last season, the MARtian took a moment to thank Woodie Flower Award Winner John Larock, Mr. Moe himself, for his inspiring speech before presenting the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award at MAR Champs. And this year, he’s done it again. “This year you’ll hear Woodie Flowers talk about this at the Championship event, but there is a focus on FIRST, and especially with the Woodie Flowers winners, around ethics. Awareness of what it takes to be ethical. Truth is a weird concept these days. Each of us is responsible for being ethical. Every one of us.” You’re 100% right, Mr. Larock, truth is a weird concept these days. In an age plagued by misconceptions and falsities, it is up to all of us to serve as ethical role models for others to follow. We must demonstrate what is right versus wrong, and commend those that demonstrate noteworthy morality. As Mr. Larock went on to say, “I challenge each of you. Let’s up the ethics quotient in *FIRST *Mid-Atlantic this next year.” The MARtian accepts your challenge Mr. Larock, and hope that others do as well. Thank you for continuously being an inspiration to us all!
"Do The Math, Save The World"
The MARtian is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of legendary MC, mentor, and all-around great guy Mark Leon last week. His efforts in *FIRST *and STEM in general have touched countless of children’s lives, and will certainly have a lasting impact within our community. Thanks to Team 254 and Kristine Atiyeh of World Play All Day, you can honor Mark’s legacy by proudly displaying a sticker in his honor on your robot at the World Championships. The NASA Ames Research Center House Teams (254, 971, and 1868) will be offering stickers to all teams at the Houston World Championship, and 125 and REV Robotics will be distributing them at the Detroit World Championship. World Play All Day also has stickers, pins, posters, and even T-shirts to commemorate Mark available for sale on Etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/WordPlayAllDay. Proceeds will be donated to the Global Foundation of Arts, Science, and Technology, the non-profit created by Mark and his wife Monica to benefit the youth of Columbia. Rest in peace Mark, you’ll certainly be missed.