- Team 573 - Mech Warriors - Team History
The Mech Warriors were founded in 2001 by Ken Kandt and Michael Hoch. The team started off on the right foot and was a fierce contender at multiple competitions. 573 was good enough in their rookie year to earn the Rookie All-star award at the West Michigan Regional. The Mech Warriors joined OCCRA(Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association) in the fall of 2002. The team started out with a bang and won a slew of awards in their OCCRA rookie year.
In 2003, the Brother Rice Mech Warriors opened the team to Marian, Brother Rice’s sister school. To recognize the girls’ role on the team, 573 incorporated the girls’ school uniform, skirts, into the team uniform. Ever since, the team has had a tradition of wearing plaid skirts and ‘skirting’ their alliance partners’ drive teams in elimination matches.
In 2004, the team lost its funding from its two corporate sponsors, Iroquois Industries and Delta Tooling. Team 1, The Juggernauts, welcomed the Mech Warriors for the year. In 2005, 573 gained sponsorship from The Chrysler Foundation and Joe Kalczynski took over as head coach as well.
One of the team’s shining moments was in 2007, when the Mech Warriors won the Great Lakes Regional. 573 partnered up with teams 503 and 1015, and in the finals, the alliance came back from a one match to zero deficit. Six years after the team was created, the Mech Warriors were finally able to hang a blue banner. Even though all of the members of the 2007 team have graduated, the team’s current students are extremely proud of their alumni and their huge accomplishment.
The Mech Warriors once again received a new head coach in 2008. Joe Mohan, a proud parent and long time supporter of 573, stepped up as head coach. The team also welcomed Diversified Tooling Group as a new sponsor.
2010 was an eventful year for the Mech Warriors; the team’s best year yet. The team started off with a bang when they won the 2010 Ann Arbor District Event. 573 skirted up with teams 2337 and 66(former world champions). The Mech Warriors won in the final seconds after 2337 suspended their robot and 573 pushed two balls into the goal with five seconds on the clock. The Mech Warriors also finished as the fifth seed at the Michigan State Championship and qualified for the World Championship in Atlanta, Georgia. The team competed in Curie division and was picked by Teams 175 and 88. 573’s success did not end there. The team attended three offseason competitions; Tardec Invitational, Michigan Advanced Robotics Competition, and Indiana Robotics Invitational. The Mech Warriors were mentor tournament champions at MARC and were 14th seed at IRI.
During the summer of 2010, the team was dropped by The Chrysler Foundation. Days later, the Mech Warriors became the first robotics team to be sponsored by OnStar. 573 also picked up PTC as a sponsor.
Awards and Milestones:
2001
- Rookie All-star – West Michigan Regional
- Finalist – Great Lakes Regional
- Finalist – Curie Division
2002
- Finalist - OCCRA
2003
- Engineering Inspiration Award – West Michigan Regional
- Xerox Creativity Award – Buckeye Regional
- Team expands to Marian High School
2004
- Foundation Award Finalist - OCCRA
2005
- Sponsored by The Chrysler Foundation
- Radioshack Innovation in Control Award – Great Lakes Regional
2007
- Champion – Great Lakes Regional
- J&J Sportsmanship Award – Boilermaker Regional
2008
- Sponsored by Diversified Tooling Group
- Chrysler Team Spirit Award – Great Lakes Regional
- Foundation Award Finalist - OCCRA
2009
- Website Award – Cass Tech District Event
- Semi-Finalist – OCCRA
- Foundation Award Finalist - OCCRA
2010
- Champion – Ann Arbor District Event
- Imagery Award – Ann Arbor District Event
- J&J Gracious Professionalism Award – Troy District Event
- Website Award – Troy District Event
- 5th seed – Michigan State Championship
- MARC Mentor Champions
- Foundation Award Finalist - OCCRA
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2011
- Industrial Design - Waterford District Event
- 1st seed - Waterford District
- Website Award - Ann Arbor District
- Team Spirit Award - Ann Arbor District