Mountain View's "Average Joes" are bound for state again this year in the FLL Lego Robotics tournament (proving that their ironic name remains ironic). Demonstrating a wonderful evolution of the program and fantastic growth on the part of our middle schoolers, the team has made tremendous strides in three years under coaches Andy Byerley and Drew Gallagher. Out of twenty regional teams over the last three years, the “Average Joes” first won an award for teamwork, collaboration, and inspiration. Last year they won awards for best robot design, best overall robot score, and an invitation to the state championship based on exceptional achievement in those two areas. This year, they exceeded expectations in all four categories (research project, core values, robot design, and robot performance) and won first place in the regional competition at Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville. This is the first time Mountain View has garnered a first place award and the student engineers couldn't be more thrilled. Last year they discovered that the state tournament, against 60 overly-capable teams is not only extremely challenging, but also a fantastic opportunity to learn. They have more work to do to get ready for State!
Congratulations "Average Joes"!
Quentin Comus
Drake Garver
Tyler Houck
Emma Libby
Emma Paulsen
Austin Roberson
Grant Stilp
Dawson Walls
COACHES: Andy Byerley, Drew Gallagher
