By the skin of their metal – Eastlake High School Robotics team wins state event in dramatic fashion

It took every last point for Pack of Parts (or Team 1294) to pull off an improbable comeback at the 2024 FIRST Robotics WA Girls Generation event. The team is made up of students from Eastlake High School. After facing several issues on Saturday and refining their approach for Sunday, the team saw a jump in their ranking. Although they weren’t initially selected during the early rounds, Pack of Parts chose to stick around for the weekend in case they were needed as a backup. That opportunity came in the finals when another team’s robot had technical issues, and Team 1294 was called in to compete.

The competition was tough, and during the final rounds, the scoreboard showed they were trailing by 15 points. But when the final score was calculated, Pack of Parts had won by a single point, turning what seemed like certain defeat into a victory.

This competition was designed to encourage female participation in robotics. They spent the week before the event refining their robot and practicing, putting in hours of work to prepare for this event. 
Below are the names of the team members and their grade level:

• Medhya Padmanabhuni, sophomore 
• Shivani Vivekanand, sophomore 
• Saranya Agrawal, junior 
• Jonathan Zhong, junior 
• Valentiptana Arshinova, freshman
• Arisha Gu, senior
• Emily Yang, senior
• Martin Chatre, freshman
• Logan Fife, junior 
• Alex Taillefer, senior 
• Vineeth Rajesh, senior
• Maahi Modi, senior 
• Tiana Chi, senior
• Vivian Chang, senior