2007: Epic

by Austin Weary

The 2007 build season was definitely one to remember. We tossed around basic ideas, and then we designed and built as we went along. "Precise Enough" was truly the team motto. Thanks to the dedication of the core members and mentors, the club managed to make it all come together.

We shared a joint practice field with several other teams. It seemed some of the teams never showed up, but we were there all the time.

We really had no idea what to expect in Portland. Amazingly enough, our team was one of the few that had a reliable autonomous mode, and this turned heads at the competition.

Picking alliances was no easy task. We never thought we'd finish in the top eight, and didn't do any scouting. We picked teams 360 and 2149 but didn't make it past the quarter-finals. Our performance, though, was enough to impress the judges, and they awarded us the Rookie All-Star Award.

Then we realized that the award came with an invitation to the FIRST championship in Atlanta. The atmosphere in Atlanta was much stronger than it was in Portland. 344 FRC teams competed on four fields. It was overwhelming.

We flipped a number of times during the endgame but our autonomous mode worked beautifully. We finished with a record of 5-2 and were ranked in the top 15 on our field. Our robot broke in our last match, but we managed to fix it quickly. Sadly, none of the top eight alliances picked us, so we didn't get to compete in the elimination rounds.

We learned a lot that year, and we were proud of what we had accomplished. Somehow, with a lot of dedication and intuition, we managed to put our foot in the door toward becoming a powerhouse team in the Northwest.