The Iron Tigers, Frenship High School’s robotics team, recently competed against more than two dozen teams across Texas and New Mexico with a Frenship student advancing to the state competition as a Dean’s List finalist.
The team of 25 Frenship students competed at the FIRST Robotics Competition District meet held in Dripping Springs earlier this month. The Iron Tigers robot held 3rd place before experiencing technical issues on day two of the competition. Advancing to the quarterfinals, the Frenship team landed 12th place out of 32 teams at the district meet.
“Our students worked extremely hard and competed very well. It is amazing to see the collaboration my team is making on and off the field,” said James Holloway, Iron Tigers coach and FHS engineering instructor. “It takes everyone to make a competition like this successful. The build team worked together to troubleshoot issues and make appropriate fixes and the Drive team made some exceptional plays on the field and pushed us to the top.”
Frenship team member Mark Dannemiller was selected as a Dean’s List finalist and will advance to the state competition in April. This honor recognizes current student leaders who have led their teams and communities to increased awareness for FIRST, “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology”, and its mission. The student must also exhibit personal achievement in technical expertise and accomplishment.
The Iron Tigers also walked away with the Entrepreneur Award, an honor celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit by recognizing a team that has developed a comprehensive business plan in order to define, manage and achieve the team’s ongoing objectives.
“It’s one of the best feelings in the world to be a coach and have the other teams come by and express how impressed they are from the robot, to volunteerism, and gracious professionals that Frenship Iron Tigers represent. Many veteran teams even communicated to the students and were asking them for advice and strategies,” said Holloway.
The Iron Tigers will get another opportunity to compete at the District event in Amarillo this week on March 12 – 14. If they’re able to earn enough points during the competition, they will be eligible to compete at the state competition hosted in San Antonio in April.
“The goal of the team this year was to push for the World Competition in Houston at the end of April and that is what we will continue to work for,” said Holloway. “This Team is exceptional, and we will continue to push on. I could not be prouder of how the team represented “Frenship Nation” and our values.”