Our second regional was the Greater Pittsburgh Regional (GPR) held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. Our team had a lot of fun and there were many highlights along the way. The regional spanned for three days: April 6, 7, and 8. The first day consisted of practice matches to get used to the field and get to know other teams; it was awesome, going significantly smoother than the first day at MVR. Also on the first day we hosted a FIRST Ladies panel where we got to hear from four women guest speakers talk about their experiences in STEM. 

That got the team excited for the second day, which was the first day of qualification matches. We ended up winning 3 of the 7 matches that day, but even if we lost, we did a great job contributing to our alliance.  On the second day as well, we had our Impact Award team present and both of our Dean’s List candidates interviewed.

Going on to the last day, we had 3 more matches and ended up winning one, tied for another, and lost the last one. . We did not end up being picked for an alliance, so we were supporting other teams and intently watched the playoff matches. When awards came around, we received the Innovation in Control Award! Then to top it all off, a Girl of Steel, Grace, won one of the Dean’s List Finalist Awards! Even though we did not make it to Worlds* this year, we had an exciting and incredible time at GPR (and MVR). We can’t wait to back at competitions next year!

*Grace traveled to Houston along with several mentors and other Girls of Steel who volunteered at the World Championships.