FIRST LEGO League state tournament

Yesterday, Nathan took Micah down to Denver for the FIRST LEGO League state tournament. (Micah's team, if you recall, had earned their invitation to the tournament last month with a 1st in Robot Performance and a 3rd Overall Champion.)

This year's venue was at the CU Denver commuter campus and was, I'm told, lovely. The 73 teams set up...

...and then spent the day with judging sessions (for core values, robot design and project presentations), practice robot runs, and scored robot runs. Though the team didn't beat their high score in the robot run from qualifiers (nor did any other team), their robot performed well and earned them a fourth place finish in the robot performance. 

After the competition portion of things was over, there was a bit of waiting for judges to tally results and come to decisions. During part of that, Micah enjoyed some time with the coach's youngest...who simply adores Micah. :)

And then it was time for the awards ceremony...

(Here, by the way, is a break down of the many different awards that the tournament gives out.) 

The ceremony began with participation medals for everyone...

And then...

Drumroll...

Micah's team...DNA (Defending Noble Astronauts)...took FIRST in Research! I'm so very proud of them! After the many hours these kids put in learning about space radiation and interviewing experts (in person, via phone and via email) and finding a feasible solution to be presented and then honing that solution after judge input at qualifiers, this was incredibly well deserved.

And, on top of that, Micah's coach earned the Coach of the Year award! Yup, it was pretty cool (and, again, so well deserved!). Congratulations all around!! It was a long but rewarding day...

Whew.