Congratulations to all of the teams that competed at our 2019 Regional Tournament! The final results for all problems are shown here. All first-place teams are invited to compete at the Virginia State Tournament in April, as well as second-place teams in Division 3 and Renatra Fusca Award winners.
In addition to recognizing the winning teams, we presented 6 special awards, listed below. We also presented the first Pat O’Brien Award for Coaches to Jeff Abraham.
The Ranatra Fusca Award represents the essence of Odyssey of the Mind and is presented to teams or individuals who exhibit exceptional creativity. The OMER’s Award is presented to teams or individuals who particularly exemplify the spirit and philosophy of the Odyssey program, demonstrate exceptional skill or talent, or exhibit outstanding sportsmanship or teamwork. Here are the full announcements for those awards:
Omer’s award – Casey Abbott, Cunningham Park Elementary School, Opposites Distract, Cunningham Park Elementary School, Division 1
What should a team do when a key team member gets sick the day before Regionals? Fortunately, the team only had five team members, leaving room for an additional team member. Even better, the younger sibling of a team member – who was also a member of another team – was willing to step up and join a second team. She actually competed four times today – twice for long-term and twice for spontaneous.
The Problem 5 judging team wants to recognize Casey Abbott, the new member of the Division 2 team from Cunningham Park Elementary School, for amazing sportsmanship so the show could go on.
Omer’s award – Ideaventions Academy, Hiding in Plain Sight, Division 2
Yesterday, as teams were making their last-minute adjustments and preparations, one team member suffered an accident that put him on crutches. This was a serious blow to the team, since this team member was not merely a performer but also the muscle required to move some heavy set pieces. Instead of panicking, the team rewrote their script both to cover for the missing set changes and to expand the team member’s speaking part.
This Omer’s award recognizes both the flexibility and sportsmanship of the Problem 2 Hiding in Plain Sight, Division 2 team from Ideaventions Academy.
Ranatra Fusca Award – Waples Mill Elementary School, Museum Makers, Coach Golstein’s Primary team
This team successfully compromised to incorporate multiple team ideas into one cohesive theme of baseball. They had multiple ideas for a possible solution, including space, time travel, and baseball and created a solution that used all the ideas through a museum of baseball and time travel.
The solution involved traveling into the past to highlight breaking racial barriers in the sport with Jackie Robinson’s and Babe Ruth‘s baseball cards. They moved to the present with Derek Jeter and common baseball pop culture such as playing Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Then they traveled literally through a cardboard time machine into the future where they re-imagined the sport breaking the gender barrier and incorporating new technology, a floating home plate.
Overall, this was a dynamic, inventive, and unique way to use the entire team’s ideas. This is highly unusual for a primary team.
The Primary judging team is happy to award a Ranatra Fusca to Coach Golstein’s team from Waples Mill Elementary School.
Ranatra Fusca Award – Kilmer Middle School, Omer to the Rescue, Division 2
This team showed exceptional creativity in propulsion engineering and design that echoed the team’s overall “book” theme. Seated on a platform with casters, the driver of the vehicle created movement by pushing and pulling the sides of an overhead A-shaped structure, which was inspired by a team-member’s easel board. The team reported that they tried many engineering approaches before coming up with this articulated-earthworm design which was mirrored in a team members’ “bookworm” costume.
The problem also required that the vehicle be disassembled and carried in a suitcase, which the team solved by creating special folding joints. To help the judges, the suitcase had transparent sides making the mechanism easy to see.
The Problem 1 judging team recognizes the teamwork and creativity of the Division 2, Omer to the Rescue team from Kilmer Middle School.
Ranatra Fusca Award – Cooper Middle School, Structure Toss, Division 2
Within the carnival theme of Problem 4, this team went above and beyond in creating the required additional games. These games used complex electro-magnetic engineering and circuitry that could be used in any carnival in the country. Using a system of rotating wheels, wooden wedges and tin cans, the team successfully created an elaborate “whack-a-mole.” They also created a “claw” game using recycled and trash material powered by electro-magnets.
The judging team wants to recognize the impressive and technically intricate solution presented by Cooper Middle School.
Ranatra Fusca Award – Langley High School, Leonardo’s Workshop, Division 3
Risking spectacular failure, this team constructed a performance entirely within Leonardo Da Vinci’s brain. Tapping into the developmental arc of the psyche, they brought to life the personified tensions of creativity and adulthood sparking Leonardo’s invention of the midlife crisis as a device of the mind.
The workshop of the brain challenged the judging team to question whether this solution was real or simply happening in our minds. But why would that make it any less real?
The judging team for Problem 3 recognizes the Division 3 team from Langley High School.