(April 8, 2005) -- GLAGH, Clark's newest robot, was ready for competition after a six-week build season. It was named in commemoration for the late science teacher Dennis Henderson's saying "Good Luck and Good Hunting." However, even with an excellent first day, the team ended up basking in the glory for only a short time, eventually finishing 14th in the competition.

Last Thursday marked the beginning of the FIRST Robotics competition, which took place at The Great Western Forum in Inglewood. Over 1,700 schools from several countries took part in the festivities. On the first day, practice matches were held, during which time the teams were able to test strategies. Clark's team, the Circuit Breakers, spent this time programming GLAGH to get the autonomous mode working. "That's [that autonomous mode] when the robot goes on its own and does preprogrammed movements," explained junior Harout Nazerian.

Qualifying matches took place on Friday. The teams play games wehre the teams attempt to pick up tetras and put them in goals. The Circuit breakers started off the day with some difficulty. "Our robot got a dent in the main tower during the first match," said sophomore Johnathan Jianu. By winning six of their seven matches Clark ended the day ranking first place.

However, due to the loss of their last qualifying matches on Saturday, Clark's ranking dropped to 14th place. This was worrisome for the team because in the quarterfinals the top eight teams got to pick their alliances. "Since we couldn't pick our teams, we hoped a good team would pick us," said Jianu. However, that wasn't the case. Despite their loss in the quarterfinals, Clark received a bronze medal.

This was the fifth time the team has entered the competition. The competition varies each year, with students this year having to build a robot that could pick up two-foot tall tetras and stack them on top of a 5.25 or 7-foot goal. The team was made up of 16 students. They spent numerous hours fundraising in order to raise over $10,000.