This past weekend, seven of Potomac’s Upper School robotics teams competed at the High Stakes Tournament at Glen Allen High School. All seven teams — 12A Absolute Zero (Helena Backus ’28, Woodley Bohannon ’28, Marissa McEwen ’28, Jasper Majeed-Hall ’28), 12C Caffeine (Santi Cangahuala ’27, Nikhil Kothari ’27, Julian Mankovsky ’27, Brayden Nelson ’25, Trevor Nelson ’27, Cole Peterson ’27), 12D Dinomite (Tami Aje ’25, Tony Diller ’26, Aiden Kaminski ’26, Sam Kim ’27, Lauren Lovallo ’25, Deven Tuladhar ’26), 12E Error by Design (Zane Amr ‘28, Esther Choi ‘28, Farrah Gardner ‘28, Hank Kelly ‘28, Imani Nzekwe ‘28, Susie Taylor ‘28)), 12F Finneas and Ferb (Caeden Demory ‘27, Patrick Joseph ‘28, Alex Kim ‘28, Hadley Scribner ‘28, McKenzie Watt ‘28, Evan Yu ‘28), 12X EclipX (Matthew Bodi ’28, Michael McIntyre ’28, Robert Murtagh ’28, Alex Runde ’28), and 12Z Zap (Jacob Cordero ’28, Quentin Toner ’26, Sophia Vilela ’26, Alejandra Villafuerte ’26) — advanced to the elimination rounds, showcasing their skill and preparation.
In the quarterfinals, teams 12X EclipX and 12F Finneas & Ferb put up a strong fight but were ultimately eliminated after competitive matches. Meanwhile, 12A Absolute Zero and 12Z Zap formed an alliance and faced off against other Potomac teams, eliminating 12E Error by Design in the Round of 16 and 12D Dinomite in the quarterfinals. 12C Caffeine defeated the alliance of 12A and 12Z in the semifinals, advancing to the finals and ultimately becoming Tournament Champions.
Team 12C Caffeine also earned the Innovate Award, recognizing their effective and well-documented design process for a novel aspect of their robot or gameplay strategy. Team 12D Dinomite received the Design Award, which celebrates an organized and professional approach to the Engineering Design Process, project and time management, and team organization.