This weekend at UMass Dartmouth, the Newton LigerBots, FIRST Robotics Team 2877, turned in an excellent performance in their first district meet of the 2015 Robotics Competition season. The team made it all the way to semifinals in this year’s ‘Recycle Rush’ game, with their alliance finishing third in the tournament. They also won the coveted District Chairman’s Award, an award celebrating FIRST teams’ efforts to spread interest in STEM in their community. The accolade also automatically advances the team and the robot to compete in the upcoming District Championship to be held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on April 9-11, for the chance to qualify for the FIRST World Championships later this spring.

Also at UMass Dartmouth, three members of the team were nominated for and advanced in the competition for individual awards. Congratulations to head coach Charles Hurwitz for advancing to the district championship level for the Woodie Flowers Award for FIRST team mentor achievement, and to Max Tepermeister and Ilias Vamvakas for advancing to the district championship level for the Dean’s List Award for FIRST team member achievement.

Currently, the LigerBots are ranked 44 of 175 teams in New England, with one qualifying tournament yet to be played at Northeastern University, on March 27-28. Come down to Northeastern or WPI to cheer the LigerBots on.