After countless hours of practices, team meetings and meets, the 5439 Gluons finally felt ready for their upcoming qualifier meet on Saturday. However, qualifiers were canceled due to the weather.

Arjun Khorana, junior, is the team captain for the the 5439 Gluons and was very disappointed when he heard the news.

“As a team we have been working really hard to define our robot and have been working very hard to be able to participate in the qualifiers,” Khorana said.

Khorana said his team is upset because qualifiers will not be rescheduled meaning they may not get to participate at State.

Of the 36 teams who were suppose to participate only two will be chosen for State. The two teams will be determined by the two highest scores from the previous meets. Of the remaining 34 teams, three will be selected from a lottery.

Despite qualifiers being canceled, Khorana is still very proud of his team and everything they have accomplished this year.

“Although we might not be able to compete, our robot was still a good robot and we were able to do a lot with it,” Khorana said. “In a way, it’s a learning experience that not everything has to have a competition tied to a learning process. The robot represents everything that we know and have learned throughout the season.”

Steven Karst, junior, is the captain for the Luxons. Although Karst’s team was not participating in the meet this weekend, he is happy that it was canceled. 

“We are not in this qualifier, but I am very happy that it is canceled for the Gluons,” Karst said. “I have heard that they are having some issues with their robot and I feel that it gives them time to improve.”

While Karst said the extra time will help the Gluons improve their robot, he does find it unfair that their chances of State could come down to a lottery.

“I’m not sure how the tournament itself will react to this cancellation,” Karst said. “I would feel bad if the Gluons lose their place at State to a lottery.”

Phil Schmidt, robotics coach, was frustrated when he discovered the cancellation.

“I think it’s ridiculous that there is no contingency plan especially for this time of year,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said his students have worked hard to get to this point. Every Tuesday and Thursday they have after school practices for two hours. Along with these, they often have weekend practices.

After seeing how much time and effort the team has put into their robot, Schmidt said a lottery isn’t a good representation of their dedication.

“It’s high stake deciding who gets to go to State and to randomly pick teams seems a little out of bounce and unfair,” Schmidt said.

If State is not an option for the Gluons, Schmidt plans on reviewing both their progress and areas of improvement with the team.

“We will do a review of what they done and what they have accomplished and try to start a plan for next year,” Schmitt said.