About Triple Helix

We are the Menchville High School Robotics Team -- Triple Helix. We compete as FIRST Robotics Competition team number 2363. Our team organized in 2007, and we began competing in 2008. The first competition that our team attended was the FIRST NASA/VCU Regional held in Richmond, Virginia, from March 6th through 8th, 2008. While the team did not fare as well in the competitive rounds as we had hoped -- finishing with a record of 2 wins and 6 losses -- we impressed the judges and won the Rookie Inspiration Award. Considering that there were eight high-quality rookie teams at the competition, we were greatly honored to be recognized with this award!

In October 2008, the team competed in the Robot Rumble, an off-season competition at the State Fair of Virginia. The team had made some modifications to the robot to improve performance and gameplay, and had spent some time practicing with the robot. The extra work paid off, with the team finishing with a record of 12 wins and 2 losses in the qualification matches, and advancing to the semi-finals in the elimination rounds before being defeated by the eventual champions of the competition.

The team made great strides in 2009, attracting two additional sponsors enabling the team to compete in two regional competitions in 2009 -- the New Jersey Regional and the NASA/VCU Regional. The team finished the New Jersey Regional with a record of 4 wins and 3 losses in 37th place out of 61 teams. At the 2009 NASA/VCU Regional, the team came into its own, scoring well and finishing with a 5 wins and 2 losses record in 15th place out of 60 teams, following the qualification matches. Unfortunately, no team selected us to partner with them for the elimination matches, and we were poised to go home disappointed. Hard work once again paid off, however, as the team won the Underwriters' Laboratory Industiral Safety Award.

Triple Helix continues to look towards the future with big plans for continual improvement.