After an arduous journey through numerous league-based competitions, FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Robotics teams traveled across the state to participate in the long-awaited FIRST in Texas-Central Texas (FiT-Central Texas) Regional Championship on Saturday, March 7, at Cornerstone Christian School in San Antonio, Texas. Though reaching this competition was an achievement in itself, most attending teams had loftier ambitions: qualifying for the FTC World Championship. With only eight slots advancing among the best teams in Texas, Westwood Robotics teams Hunga Munga and Slingshot experienced immense pressure to succeed over the course of the competition.

Rookie team Hunga Munga was picked to join the fifth alliance (rank-wise) to go into Elimination matches for the Terra Division, and Slingshot was selected to join the sixth in the Aero Division. From there, Slingshot rose to become one of the two Finalist Alliances for their division, and was awarded the second place Think Award for their robot’s hardware and design process, finishing one ranking point away from advancing to the World Championship. Though not quite reaching the result they wanted, both teams performed to the best of their abilities.

“I thought [both teams] handled themselves very well,” Westwood Robotics Club Sponsor Sarah Carvajal said. “Seeing Hunga Munga [go] into a division where there were some teams that were a little more of a challenge to go up against, and then [watching them] become 10th in their division was amazing. With Slingshot, not having the best luck with qualification matches and then getting all the way to finals was nerve-racking but also really exciting to watch. I knew they had it in them, [but] sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you [don’t].[Still], being able to push through that and keep improving throughout the day was really [impressive].”

“Our competition was a little bumpy,” Hunga Munga Captain Saanvi Bhosekar ‘28 said. “Our robot stopped working at different times, and [we had to] stop between each match to fix every setback. [Though] most of us knew we wouldn’t make it past this competition, I still think we could’ve [performed] better and shouldn’t have made so many hardware changes to the bot.”

As a a rookie team, Hunga Munga newbie members experienced FTC for the first time. This made for a unique team structure and an immense pride among teammates for reaching a coveted level of achievement.

“For a rookie team, we had a lot of people who, while not experienced in FTC, had a large variety of skills, such as hardware or [even] presentational speaking,” Hunga Munga member Michael Ferrua ‘28 said. “We were [able to] translate that over into robotics together. I’m going to miss the novelty of [the season] and my team a lot.”

Slingshot’s competition experience was similarly turbulent. Due to a difficult randomization of alliances throughout qualification matches, they fell to rank 15, making them wholly dependent on the top six ranked teams to pick them for elimination matches. As most of those top teams already had picks in mind, members’ anxiety of ending on a low note heightened. Ultimately, however, the sixth alliance captain, Megaknytes, called Slingshot Alliance Selection representative Arhaan Jafri ‘27 forward, completing the last alliance of the division.

“It was a great feeling,” Jafri said. “The entire time I was up there, I was nearly on the verge of crying because we were ranked 15. Most teams in scouting [for alliance partners] look at how you perform in qualifications, and we didn’t perform as well as we wanted to. Out of the top six captains there, none of them were going to pick us, but luckily, thanks to first [rank] picking [second] and so on, they had to form more alliances, and I guess we were the next best option. It was really surprising but I was so happy.”

Throughout elimination matches, Slingshot members worked diligently to quickly maximize the robot’s ability. Robot driver Niketh Balakrishnan ‘29, stepped in to replace an absent member and drove Slingshot’s robot to division finals against the first rank alliance. Despite Slingshot members’ diligent work to maximize the robot’s ability, the match determining their participation in the World Championship ended in a loss. Combined with the additional second place Think Award, Slingshot ended their season one ranking point away from advancing to worlds.

For Slingshot’s graduating seniors FTC Director Aubrey Tipps and Director of Information Jining Liu, the competition marked not only an end to the season, but to their time in FTC. This closing was filled with laughter, hugs, and tears, displaying how Westwood Robotics had built not only knowledge, but community.

“Most of [Slingshot] have been working together for like three years at this point,” Tipps said. “We [also] had a lot of freshmen on our team this year, but even [they] feel like family now. It’s kind of beautiful that I’m not only doing this because of competition or my love for robots, but it’s also because this is my family.”

Tipps was part of Westwood Robotics since her sophomore year, and grew into a pillar of the program as FTC Director in her senior year. With a constant hunger for learning, she dedicated herself to excelling in robotics software and outreach. She mentored rookie teams while managing her own work as a software lead on Slingshot and a presentation team member, gaining the respect and appreciation of countless students.

“[Robotics] has definitely developed my ability to see problems and take action on them,” Tipps said. “Seeing the problems in FTC last year and then becoming FTC Director, [I got] to make changes and see those things come to fruition. I [learned] that I have the capabilities to not only lead, but take what other people are struggling with and do something about it. And of course, [my friendships] have taught me to lean on other people and not do everything by myself, and I hope they stick with me for a long time.”

Similarly, Liu joined the program in his sophomore year. His programming expertise and passion for FTC inspired him to create a livestreaming platform for his team’s competitions. The program continued to be used throughout his senior year, where he operated the stream for his own competitions while acting as Slingshot’s hardware lead and presentation team member. In his junior and senior year, he also created scorer apps for both years’ FTC games. Though constantly praised for his immense skillset, he credits the programs’ collective efforts in impacting his character.

“I think many don’t understand that robotics is so much more than just robots,” Liu said. “It’s the people behind every part, line of code, and [engineering] portfolio page that makes each moment so memorable, so I’m definitely going to miss my peers more than anything else. Beyond teaching me effective teamwork and communication in a real engineering environment, being part of FTC has connected me with some of my now closest friends and many more incredible people, each and every one of whom has made me a better person.”

Throughout the long path from FTC Kickoff to Regional Championships, every robotics member worked countless hours toward separate goals, such as a functioning robot or prestigious award. Whether they achieved that goal or not, each of these members came out of the season with satisfaction, knowing that they performed to the best of their abilities.

“I definitely am satisfied with [Slingshot’s] finish,” Tipps said. “Obviously, I wish we got to Worlds, but [having that as my last competition] would’ve been hard [too], because [either way] I would’ve gone out of [competition knowing] that was the last time doing this with the people that I love. In a lot of ways, I’m happy that it ended like this, but it’ll always be a little sad because this is my second home.”