By David Fleet
Editor
Goodrich —  The Goodrich High School robotics teams are off to the best start in the history of the teams, and neither team has finished lower than second place during the 2023 season.
Of the 480 robotics teams in Michigan, Martian Team #494 is ranked 11 and Martian Team #70 ranked 21.
“It’s been an exciting and rewarding season this year,” said Jay TenBrink, lead mentor and drive coach, Goodrich FIRST Robotics. “We’ve worked hard to design, build, and program two world class robots. They are fast, strong, and have solid autonomous programs.”
So far this season, Team #494 (founded 2001) won the FIM District Kettering University week 1 event and along with Team #70 (founded 2006) won the Grand Valley State University competition. Team #70 was a finalist at FIM District Kettering week 2.
“The students have logged many hours to perfect their driving and operating skills, which shows in their performance on the field,” added TenBrink. “We couldn’t be more proud of these kids.”
On April 6, 7 and 8 both teams will move on to the FIRST Michigan District State Championship at Saginaw Valley State University where the top 160 teams of 480 teams in Michigan will compete.
The event winner along with other high-ranking teams at the event will travel to Houston April 19-22 for the World Championship that includes top teams from 31 countries, a total of 3,304 teams compete world-wide. The event is an opportunity for students where corporate and university recruiters attend providing more than $80 million in scholarships.
Since the beginning many Goodrich students have taken advantage of these scholarships