Carman-Ainsworth FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition®) Team 314 completed a successful season with an appearance in the FIRST® Championship from April 26-29 in St. Louis, Missouri. Team 314, also known as Big MO, was one of 407 teams from around the world that competed in the event at Edward Jones Dome and America’s Center.

Team 314 competed in Darwin division, which included 68 teams, playing in 10 qualifying matches with two other alliance partners.

The team ended the qualifying rounds with a 4-6 record, ranking 39 out of 68 teams, with 1.5 ranking points and 3,095 match points. However, the record and ranking did not tell the real story about Team 314 and their robot. When individually evaluated, Team 314 was in the Top 10 for offense, defense and calculated contribution to win margin, key metrics other teams considered when making a run for the championship.

As a result, Team 314 was selected first pick by the 3rd Alliance Captain, Team 1305 Ice Cubed, from North Bay, Ontario. We then chose Team 48 Delphi E.L.I.T.E, from Warren, Ohio, and Team 2370 IBOTS, from Rutland, Vermont, to partner with us in the elimination rounds.

The alliance won the divisional quarterfinal but was eliminated by the No. 2 alliance in the semifinals.

That said, the chance to compete on an international level, to make new friends from around the world and to reunite with old friends was outstanding.  The best overall part of this journey was seeing the students design, build, program and compete with a robot that impressed competitors, judges and fans throughout the season. The students not only applied their technical skills but also honed their abilities to work as a team, solve problems and compete with gracious professionalism.