FIRST History
2012
FIRST Championship
- Curie Division Finalist
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 341, 254, 78
- 6-3-0 record in Qualifying with 18 Qualifying Points, Ranked 53 of 100 Teams
- Set “Rebound Rumble” all-time high score of 128 pts
Last Wednesday 24 Bellarmine students traveled to St. Louis to defend their World Championship FRC title from last year. Team 254 left St. Louis one step away from the Einstein playoffs, which showcases the top 12 teams in the world from the 400 teams which competed in this tournament. We lost in the finals of the Curie Division (one match away from Einstein) with our partners Miss Daisy from Ambler, Pennsylvania and AIR Strike from Newport County, Rhode Island. Eric Bakan was also a finalist for the prestigious Dean’s List Award in St. Louis.
The team powered through the qualification rounds and ended up proving ourselves as one of the most capable ball shooting robots in the division even though we seeded very low. We were the first pick by the #1 seeded team and showed the world what our powerful alliance could do, triple balancing in numerous matches and going forward to set the all-time Rebound Rumble high score of 128.
Many students, mentors, and staff contributed but special thanks goes to our Driver Abhi Kumar (2014) and Operator Chris Sides (2015) and Human Player Adam Wilson (2012). Furthermore, congratulations to all of our seniors for whom this was their last tournament: Bhargava Manja, Eric Caldwell, Eric Bakan, Reiley Weekes, Michael Searing, Ankur Das, Arun Pingali, Andrew Guastaferro & Adam Wilson. Although we didn’t win, we showed the world what we can do and are proud to have finished off our fourteenth season strong.
Central Valley Regional
- Regional Finalist
- Industrial Design Award Winners
- Website Award Winners
- Elimination Alliance (#2): 1323, 254, 3309
- 7-3-0 record in Qualifying with 19 Qualifying Points, Ranked 27 of 46 Teams
This weekend 36 members of The Cheesy Poofs competed in the FIRST Central Valley Regional (CVR) in a field of 46 teams from as far away as Mexico. It was a very competitive tournament. We went to the Elimination Matches with 1323 – Madtown Robotics of Madera High School and 3309 – The Friarbots of Anaheim which is made up of three Catholic High Schools. We won our quarterfinal match against the #7 alliance and went on to compete against 973 – The Greybots of Atascadero, our alliance partners at Worlds last year. After three tough matches, we beat their alliance to go to the tournament finals. Team 254 fought a noble battle but lost in the finals to the alliance of 1717 – The D’Penguineers of Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy in Goleta, who had recently won the Los Angeles Regional, 330 – The former world champion Beach Bots and 2102. Team 254 also received the Website Award for the first time since 2004 and the Industrial Design Award for the second time this season.
Silicon Valley Regional
- Regional Champion
- Industrial Design Award
- Dean’s List Finalist Award – Eric Bakan
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 971, 254, 766
- 9-1-0 record in Qualifying with 28 Qualifying Points, Ranked 3 of 50 Teams
Last weekend, Bellarmine College Preparatory robotics Team 254 “The Cheesy Poofs” attended the Silicon Valley Regional at San Jose State University. Team 254 was the regional winner, along with alliance members Team 971 (Mountain View High School) and Team 766 (Menlo-Atherton High School). In the face of stiff competition, Team 254 won 9 of 10 qualification matches and 6 of 6 elimination matches. We also applaud the hard work of our sister team, 1868, for making it to the finals on the opposing alliance.
In addition the competition results, Team 254 was awarded the General Motors Industrial Design Award for clean and efficient robot design. Eric Bakan was recognized as a FIRST Dean’s List Finalist for his achievements and impact on the FIRST community. He will move on to compete internationally for Dean’s List Winner at the FIRST World Championships. With the Central Valley Regional and World Championships around the corner, Team 254 gears up for more exciting competition.
2011
FIRST Championship
- World Champion
- GM Industrial Design Award
- Galileo Division Champion
- Elimination Alliance (#2): 254, 111, 973
- 9-1-0 record in Qualifying with 56.50 Ranking Score, Ranked 2 of 88 Teams
On the heels of receiving top regional honors, the Bellarmine College Preparatory FIRST Robotics Team 254, “The Cheesy Poofs,” claimed victory in the World Championships of Robotics. The competition was held April 27-30 at the Edward Jones Dome of the America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri, with 25 Bellarmine students attending the tournament.
Having recently taken top honors at regional competitions in San Diego and Silicon Valley, Team 254 joined Team 111 (“Wild Stang” of Schaumburg, IL) and Team 973 (“Greybots” of Atascadero, CA) as world champions after a 9-1 record in qualification matches and wins in both the Galileo and Einstein divisions of the tournament.
The St. Louis championship marks the first time that Bellarmine’s Team 254 has won the World Championships of FIRST. “I am so proud of all the kids for the hard work they have put in to achieve this result,” said faculty moderator, Rob Janke. “This was the missing piece to our program and all that have ever been a part of this team are happy and excited for finally achieving the ultimate goal.” This win, and receiving the World Industrial Design Award, brings the team’s award total to 73 during its 11 year history. The victory also distinguishes Bellarmine’s Team 254, consisting of 83 students, as one of the world’s most overall successful robotics programs, as it has now claimed every major award and holds more awards than any other FIRST team.
Silicon Valley Regional
- Regional Champion
- GM Industrial Design Award
- Coopertition Award
- Abbott Inventor Hall of Fame Award for Shockwave
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 254, 1538, 751
- 10-0-0 Record in Qualifying with 39.50 Ranking Score, Ranked 1 of 56 Teams
Last weekend, Bellarmine College Preparatory robotics Team 254, “The Cheesy Poofs” won the Silicon Valley Regional FIRST Robotics Competition along with three other awards. The competition was fierce, but after going undefeated through a set of qualifying matches, Team 254 selected a strong alliance of two other teams (1538, “The Holy Cows” and 751, “Woodside Priory”). After several elimination matches, Team 254 won the semifinal match against the alliance of its sister program, Team 1868, “The Space Cookies”.
In addition to the on field competition, Team 254 also won the General Motors Industrial Design Award in recognition of its efficient and elegantly designed robot. Team 254 was also recognized for its commitment to community involvement by the “Coopertition” (cooperation + competition) award. Nick Eyre, Bobby Tifft and Chris Campbell of Team 254 received the Abbott Young Inventor’s Award for their contribution to the design and manufacture of Bellarmine’s t-shirt firing robot, “Shockwave”. With the FIRST robotics World Championships coming up, Team 254 continues to maintain its strong plans for engineering, business, competition, and community.
San Diego Regional
- Regional Champion
- KPCB Entrepreneurship Award
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 254, 987, 3704
- 10-0-0 Record in Qualifying with 25.00 Ranking Score, Ranked 1 of 60 Teams
Exhausted from a long battle with nearly 60 other FIRST robotics teams, Team 254 (The Cheesy Poofs) from Bellarmine College Preparatory emerged victorious at the San Diego regional robotics tournament on Saturday.
After going undefeated in all of their preliminary matches at the tournament, the Cheesy Poofs ran into trouble in the Quarterfinals when they inadvertently earned an immediate loss by red card after “damaging the field”. While slightly irritated, alliance Teams 987 and 3704 were overall very happy with the lightning agility of Bellarmine’s aptly named competition robot, Slipstream. Though the loss meant that Bellarmine would have to win the two remaining matches, driver Nick Eyre and operator Andrew Sides were confident in their abilities and the team, and were able to advance.
In the semifinal match, alliance Team 3704 received a red card after they were pushed into the opponent’s scoring zone, but polite conversation with the regional judges luckily helped to resolve the situation. Despite various obstacles, Team 254 won the regional competition, and as an added bonus took home the Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers Entrepreneurship Award. Presented for a well designed business plan, this award recognizes the aspects of robotics that do not focus on engineering. Walking away with two wins, Bellarmine robotics returns from a challenging weekend and looks optimistically forward to the Silicon Valley regional tournament.
WRRF Calgames Off-Season Tournament
- Tournament Champion
- Tournament Finalist (Second Robot)
- AMD CAD Award
Madtown Throwdown Off-Season Tournament
- Tournament Champion
- Tournament Finalist (Second Robot)
2010
FIRST Championship
- Archimedes Division Champion
- Archimedes Division Coopertition Award
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 254, 233, 3357
- 9-1-0 Record in Qualifying with 336.00 Seeding Score, Ranked 1 of 86 Teams
FIRST Robotics Team 254 concluded a fantastic season with a standout performance on the World stage. For the first time since 2005 and the third in its 12-year history, The Cheesy Poofs won a World Championship division and advanced to Einstein field.
Team 254 was sorted onto Archimedes field for the 2010 World Championship – generally agreed to be the toughest in terms of the quality of teams in the division. Despite the odds, 254 quickly showed itself to be one of the best robots in the 80-team pool, dropping only a single qualification match by a narrow 12-13 score. Coming into the final day of qualifications, The Cheesy Poofs were seeded 6th, and needed a large amount of seeding points to catch up to the 1st-seeded Killer Bees (33) from Michigan. That morning, in a barnburner involving four of the top robots in Archimedes, 254 prevailed, 20-18, vaulting to the top of the leader board. The final match’s 22-point victory ensured that 254 would have the #1 pick after qualification rounds.
While its drivers were tearing up the playing field, Poof scouts noticed the rapid emergence of Team Pink (233) onto the Archimedes scene – although their robot had not won either of its two regionals, it showed itself to be one of the top performers at World Championships. As a result, 254 drafted 233 as its 1st pick and rookie 3357 as its second – 3357 had scored 16 points by itself against the Poofs in their last match.
The alliance quickly ran into a spot of trouble, though. The 254 robot (named Onslaught) stopped working in three elimination matches while traversing a bump – only being bailed out by its alliance partners to avoid elimination. The problem was finally isolated and determined to be a cRIO failure. Luckily, Team 971 from Mountain View High School (254′s partners in both 2009 and 2010 SVR wins) graciously offered to lend their cRIO to us, as they had been eliminated from the tournament in a separate division. Because of this act of gracious professionalism, Alliance #1 was allowed to progress to divisional finals, where they eliminated Teams 33, 148, and 201 in two close, high-scoring matches.
Unfortunately, the alliance then ran up against one of the most stacked alliances in recent FIRST history from the Curie division – comprised of triple-regional-winners 1114 from Ontario and 469 from Michigan, as well 2041, one of the best defensive robots in the game. They eliminated 254′s hopes of a World title in the Einstein semifinals.
However, this loss is rather insignificant compared to the rest of the 2010 FIRST season – packed with a divisional win, two regional wins, as well as two judged awards – making it one of the most successful FRC seasons ever. The Poofs will test the waters one last time this year at the VEX World Championships next week, where several of their robots are heavy favorites.
Las Vegas Regional
- Regional Champion
- Motorola Quality Award
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 25, 254, 3230
- 7-3-0 Record in Qualifying with 197.00 Seeding Score, Ranked 2 of 46 Teams
Over the first weekend of Spring Break, Team 254 traveled to the City of Lights for the 2010 Las Vegas Regional. Despite losing three matches in qualification rounds, the team seeded second under the new FIRST ranking system. Moreover, 254′s robot (Onslaught) caught the eye of the first-seeded Team 25, winner of the New Jersey Regional and one of the best teams at the tournament. The two elected to pair up together for elimination rounds, and drafted rookie Team 3230 to be the third partner in the alliance. The trio played some tough matches against perennial powerhouses, but managed to go undefeated on its way to a regional victory. Team 254 was also awarded the Motorola Quality Award, which “celebrates machine robustness in concept and fabrication.”
The Cheesy Poofs enter next week’s World Championships with a 28-3-1 record, and are one of a handful of teams with two 2010 regional wins under their belt.
Silicon Valley Regional
- Regional Champion
- GM Industrial Design Award
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 971, 254, 649
- 9-0-1 Record in Qualifying with 186.00 Seeding Score, Ranked 2 of 50 Teams
Bellarmine’s FIRST Robotics Team 254 started its season with a bang this weekend as the Cheesy Poofs proved victorious at the Silicon Valley Regional. Remaining undefeated through the qualifying matches, with a record of 9-0-1, the Poofs formed a powerhouse alliance with Mountain View’s Team 971 and Saratoga High’s Team 649. Team 971′s incredibly quick and efficient scoring ability and Team 649′s impenetrable defense allowed the alliance to break through the elimination rounds, ending with a heated finals match against fellow NASA team The Space Cookies. After a breathtaking back-and-forth battle for points, the Poofs claimed the regional victory. Team 254 also received the Industrial Design Award, which celebrates robustness in design and mechanical efficiency, for its beautiful and effective machine.
This win marks the 11th time Bellarmine has won the Silicon Valley Regional in the 12 years it has been held, and continues the Cheesy Poofs’ unparalleled 12-year streak of regional victories. The team’s next challenge lies in the City of Lights, at the Las Vegas Regional. From there, the robot travels to Atlanta for the 2010 FIRST Robotics World Championship.
WRRF Calgames
- Event Champion
- AMD CAD Award
- Best Autonomous Mode Award
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 971, 254, 692
- Ranked 3rd after Qualifying Matches
After two long days of competition at Lynbrook High School, Team 254 came out on top as champions of the 2010 WRRF California Robot Games, winning the event and two awards.
In the first matches of the competition, Team 254 had some mechanical issues which were traced to a leaking pneumatic fitting. Once the fitting was replaced, we had no major issues for the rest of the competition. We were ranked 3rd at the end of the Qualification Matches and were picked first to join Alliance #1 along with Team 971 (Mountain View High School – Mountain View) and Team 692 (St. Francis High School – Sacramento). We cruised through the Elimination Matches, winning every match by a wide margin, earning us the title of Event Champion.
At the end of the competition, Team 254 was awarded both the “AMD Computer Aided Design (CAD) Award” and the “Best Autonomous Programming Award.” The CAD award recognizes exceptional use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) techniques in the design of a robot. To win the award, members of our team gave a 45 minute presentation to judges explaining our CAD processes to them and showing where CAD made a difference. The Autonomous Programming award recognizes the work of our team’s programmers and their ability to program autonomous modes that really stood out from the rest.
Thank you to everyone involved. The team was only able to succeed because of the enormous time contributions of all of the students who scouted, prepared award submissions, worked on the robot and more. Furthermore, thanks to all of the parents who helped out by bringing food for our team, driving team members to and from the event, taking pictures to record the event and more.
2009
FIRST Championship
- Curie Division
- Elimination Alliance (#3): 175, 254, 2185
- 4-3-0 Record in Qualifying with 56.85 Ranking Score, Ranked 34 of 87 Teams
Las Vegas Regional
- Motorola Quality Award
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 254, 1538, 2339
- 8-1-0 Record in Qualifying with 53.55 Ranking Score, Ranked 1 of 48 Teams
When the match schedule was released for the 2009 Las Vegas Regaioal, Team 254 saw that it would have to fight its way through an extremely hard set of qualification matches in order to come off on top. The Poofs were up for the challenge and soared through their qualification matches, winning all but one and earning the coveted title of #1 seed. 254 paired up with teams 1538 and 2339 to form a tough alliance but was taken down in the Semifinals by Team 330′s impressive alliance. In the end, 254 was awarded its second Motorola Quality Award of the season.
Silicon Valley Regional
- Regional Champion
- Motorola Quality Award
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 971, 254, 852
- 6-2-0 Record in Qualifying with 38.87 Ranking Score, Ranked 9 of 48 Teams
Indiana Robotics Invitational
- Elimination Alliance: 47, 254, 1503, 45
- 3-5-0 Record in Qualifying
WRRF Calgames
- Event Champion
- Elimination Alliance (#2): 604, 254, 2854
- 3-2-0 Record in Qualifying
Bidding a final farewell to the 2009 FIRST Robotics game Lunacy, the Cheesy Poofs capped off their successful season as they claimed a final victory at this year’s Cal Games invitational this Saturday. Facing opponents from all across northern California, the Poofs bested their opponents match after match. After Leland’s Team 604 Quixilver Robotics picked Team 254 and Team 2854, a team that the Poofs mentored through build season and opened their lab to, to form a stellar alliance, the Poofs glided through to victory with little friction.
Thus ends the ’09 season, so bring on the 2010 FIRST competition!
2008
FIRST Championship
- Galileo Division Finalist
- Elimination Alliance (#2): 1717, 254, 384
- 5-2-0 Record in Qualifying with 60.00 Ranking Score, Ranked 14 of 86 Teams
Team 254 went into the FIRST championship with high ambitions but knew that it would have to fight hard to make it through the very skilled Galileo Division. The team excelled through most of its qualification matches but choked in a crucial match against eventual world champion 1114 when the Poofs’ autonomous mode got the robot stuck on the field’s center lane divider and rendered 254 immobile for the duration of the match. At the end of the qualification matches, Team 254 was chosen by team 1717 to join the #2 alliance and made it to the division finals.
Hawaii Regional
- Regional Champion
- Motorola Quality Award
- Elimination Alliance (#2): 233, 254, 2466
- 8-2-0 Record in Qualifying with 44.40 Ranking Score, Ranked 3 of 37 Teams
Silicon Valley Regional
- Regional Champion
- GM Industrial Design Award
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 100, 254, 115
- 5-5-0 Record in Qualifying with 24.20 Ranking Score, Ranked 24 of 48 Teams
After an extremely fast-paced build season, Team 254 rushed into the Silicon Valley regional with a non-functional partially completed robot and high ambitions. After a busy Thursday of robot completion, we raced through inspection on Friday morning just in time to make our first match. After some disappointing performance on the field, things started to brighten up as 254 simply kept improving throughout all of the qualification matches. When alliance selection rolled around, Team 254 was fortunate to be picked by Team 100, the #1 seed. The duo later joined forces with Team 115 to race through the elimination matches. Even with a controversial match replay during the finals, The #1 alliance was crowned tournament champion giving Team 254 its 9th Silicon Valley Regional win.
Tempest ‘n Tampa
- Elimination Alliance (#8): 1369, 1902, 254
2007
FIRST Championship
- Archimedes Division Semifinalist
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 494, 254, 997
- 5-2-0 Record in Qualifying with 26.00 Ranking Score, Ranked 12 of 86 Teams
Las Vegas Regional
- Regional Champion
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 1425, 254, 1983
- 7-2-0 Record in Qualifying with 14.44 Ranking Score, Ranked 2 of 51 Teams
Silicon Valley Regional
- 3-3-0 Record in Qualifying with 12.50 Ranking Score, Ranked 21 of 48 Teams
- Delphi “Driving Tomorrow’s Technology” Award
Los Angeles Regional
- Regional Champion
- Judge’s Award
- Elimination Alliance (#2): 254, 330, 4
- 6-2-0 Record in Qualifying with 10.63 Ranking Score, Ranked 2 of 52 Teams
WRRF Calgames
- Tournament Champion
2006
FIRST Championship
- Newton Division Semifinalist
- Elimination Alliance (#4): 254, 71, 753
- 6-1-0 Record in Qualifying with 40.571 Average, Ranked 4 of 86 Teams
Silicon Valley Regional
- Regional Champion
- J&J Sportsmanship Award
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 254, 581, 766
- 10-0-0 Record in Qualifying with 24.100 Average, Ranked 1 of 40 Teams
Pacific Northwest Regional
- Regional Champion
- Elimination Alliance (#4): 254, 1887, 753
- 7-3-1 Record in Qualifying with 19.600 Average, Ranked 4 of 46 Teams
2005
FIRST Championship
- Championship Finalist
- Galileo Division Champion
- Elimination Alliance (#2): 56, 254, 64
- 5-2-0 Record in Qualifying with 31.28 Average, Ranked 9 of 85 Teams
Sacramento Regional
- Regional Finalist
- Motorla Quality Award
- Website Award
Silicon Valley Regional
- Regional Champion
- Motorola Quality Award
- Website Award
- Elimination Alliance (#2): 254, 22, 980
- 10-2-0 Record in Qualifying with 11 Average, Ranked 2 of 36 Teams
2004
FIRST Championship
- Chairman’s Award Winner and FIRST Hall of Fame Induction
- Newton Division Quarterfinalists
- Elimination Alliance (#4): 79, 16, 254
- 3-4-0 Record in Qualifying with 73.571 Average RP, Ranked 43 of 73 Teams
Sacramento Regional
- Regional Champion
- Delphi “Driving Tomorrow’s Technology” Award
- Website Award
- Woodie Flowers Regional Award to Steve Kyramarios
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 254, 753, 955
- 8-1-0 Record in Qualifying, Ranked 1 of 32 Teams
Silicon Valley Regional
- Regional Chairman’s Award
- Regional Champion
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 971, 254, 852
- 7-1-0 Record in Qualifying with 37.500 Average RP, Ranked 2 of 46 Teams
2003
FIRST Championship
- Newton Division Semifinalists
- Elimination Alliance (#2): 27, 254, 192
- 83 Average QPs in Qualifying with 158 Highest QP Match, Ranked 42 of 73 Teams
Sacramento Regional
- Regional Chairman’s Award
- Regional Finalist
- Elimination Alliance (#1): 599, 254
- 101 Average QPs in Qualifying with 178 Highest QP Match, Ranked 7 of 27 Teams
Silicon Valley Regional
- Regional Champion
- J&J Sportsmanship Award
- Elimination Alliance (#3): 115, 254
- 84 Average QPs in Qualifying with 252 Highest QP Match, Ranked 22 of 46 Teams
WRRF Calgames
- Tournament Finalist
2002
FIRST Championship
No Data
Silicon Valley Regional
- Regional Champion
- Website Award
- Engineering Inspiration Award
- Ranked 1st After Qualifying
Buckeye Regional
No Data
WRRF Calgames
- Tournament Champion
2001
FIRST Championship
- Archimdes Division Champion
- Championship Finalist
Silicon Valley Regional
- Regional Champion
- Ranked 1st After Qualifying
Southern California Regional
- Regional Champion
- GM Industrial Design Award
- Incredible Play of the Day Award
- Ranked 1st After Qualifying
WRRF Calgames
- Tournament Champion
- Driver Challenge Champion
SCRRF Summer Classic
- Tournament Champion
2000
FIRST Championship
- Judge’s Award – Grit & Determination
NASA Ames Regional
- Regional Champion
Lone Star Regional
- Regional Champion
- Outstanding Defense Award
WRRF Calgames
- Tournament Champion
- Human Player Challenge Champion
- King of the Hill Finalist
SCRRF Summer Classic
- Tournament Champion