Contact: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Fayette County Public Schools robotics team was part of the runner-up alliance in the Boilermaker Regional of the FIRST Robotics Competition, losing by one point in the last game of the best two-out-of-three finale.

The event began with 39 teams competing in qualifications March 19-20 at Purdue University in Indiana. In the finals, eight alliances of three teams each squared off in elimination matches. The FCPS team partnered with groups from Indianapolis and Peoria; they were the fifth-seeded alliance and knocked out the No. 1 seed en route to the finals.

This animation shows this year’s robotics challenge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbA33dX127E

“This is just our second year in competition, and we are very pleased to have competed with and against some of the toughest and most respected teams in the nation, and to be part of the second-place alliance,” said John Zbrozek, a community mentor.

The FCPS team, led by Andy Stephenson and hosted by Southside Technical Center, includes:

From Paul Laurence Dunbar High: Jeremiah Barnes, Anurag Bose, Aaron Davidson, Wei Du, Brian Fei, Johnathan Greer, Yuki Inoue, Arunita Kar, Aaron Karp, Robert McGillivray, Joseph Natter, Danielle Scott, Ranajay Sen, Alex Sottile and Henry Yan;

From Lafayette High: Thomas Deroshiers and Kirk Hardy;

From Tates Creek High: Anton Vinogradov;

From Henry Clay High: Abby Omlor.