Virginia 2013

[fishman100]

Does anyone happen to know the top Elastic Launched Glider times at the Kilmer regional tournament (division C)?

I think around 20 seconds, not so sure about it though...

[2346273454]

I seem to recall TJHSST winning regionals over Langley and Fairfax last year too, but then falling to third place at state behind those two teams. I wonder why this is. Simply Langley/Fairfax buckling down between regionals and state? Or something more complex?

TJ no-showed/got close to last in three events at last year's states. And they still were close. I don't think they are taking any chances this year.

[sjwon3789]

According to http://www.virginiaso.org/pdf/VASO_Even ... cement.pdf, does that mean I'm not given the extra 5 minutes provided for keep the heat?, which states: iii. Teams must be given 5 minutes to setup/modify their devices at the start of the competition. Devices that do not meet the construction specs must not be allowed to be tested until brought into spec.

<I have also posted this in the event page>

[fishman100]

Congrats to everyone (shout out to Vtech) for an awesome state tournament! Special congrats to Longfellow and TJ for making Nats this year; good luck in Ohio.

[nejanimb]

Hope the event went well yesterday! I didn't attend this time, but I wrote the Fermi test and put together ED. Let me know any comments about those!

Also, really interesting to see TJ make it for div. C. It'll be fascinating to see how they do at Nationals - lots of talent there, clearly. The school has the same sort of design as Troy or LASA or NC, and it sounds to me like the team is set up relatively similarly to what Troy does (obviously though with much less experience). I've always found that design to be somewhat loathesome, but clearly it can work!

[codenamemoraine]

Also, really interesting to see TJ make it for div. C. It'll be fascinating to see how they do at Nationals - lots of talent there, clearly. The school has the same sort of design as Troy or LASA or NC, and it sounds to me like the team is set up relatively similarly to what Troy does (obviously though with much less experience). I've always found that design to be somewhat loathesome, but clearly it can work!

What do you mean by design type? I'm with TJ lol.

Also, I have to say, Div B in VA is much less competitive than Div C -- we've had three different teams in the past three years now for Div C, it's not Langley-dominated anymore. But Longfellow is the clear winner in Div B. It makes it less interesting -- although I do agree Longfellow deserves it; they put in a LOT of study time!

[sjwon3789]

I'm just depressed because 5-6 good members chose not to go to states. We might've had a chance otherwise, or near 1st because for the events we failed in, those members would've covered it up. When my friend and I was counting the rank scores, we were fairly competitive in the first few but as it advanced...our school wasn't called out , including WIDI where my partner decided to leave from states team when we placed 3rd in regional, leading up to 12th place for me. Furthermore, the new coach focused in including the seventh graders so I think we had few bad members..

It's quite surprising how other schools appeared in the top 6. Also how the top 3 are so close together...even one person makes a difference there!

[SLM]

Also, really interesting to see TJ make it for div. C. It'll be fascinating to see how they do at Nationals - lots of talent there, clearly. The school has the same sort of design as Troy or LASA or NC, and it sounds to me like the team is set up relatively similarly to what Troy does (obviously though with much less experience). I've always found that design to be somewhat loathesome, but clearly it can work!

What do you mean by design type? I'm with TJ lol.

Also, I have to say, Div B in VA is much less competitive than Div C -- we've had three different teams in the past three years now for Div C, it's not Langley-dominated anymore. But Longfellow is the clear winner in Div B. It makes it less interesting -- although I do agree Longfellow deserves it; they put in a LOT of study time!

I believe he is referring to the organization of the team, not any type of engineering design.

in Virginia, Division B has been much more competitive than Division C at the national stage. Just look at the national ranking of VA team(s), you will see what I mean. This, in part, has to do with the way SO teams are organized and run in middle school vs high school here.

I wish you and the rest of the TJ kids, including my own, best of luck at Nationals.

[sjwon3789]

I heard Longfellow has Science Olympiad as an elective lol... My friend could be wrong but that's what he told me.

[SLM]

I heard Longfellow has Science Olympiad as an elective lol... My friend could be wrong but that's what he told me.

This was not the case couple of years ago when I was a Longfellow parent.

I would be pleasantly surprised if the school has constituted an elective course with a focus on STEM in general and the Science Olympiad events in particular.