STRIKER Places 20th at FIRST Midwest Regional
March 10, 2008

The Saint Patrick High School Robotics Team, commonly known as STRIKER, placed 20th of 42 teams at the Midwest Regional of the FIRST Robotics Competition, held at UIC Pavilion on February 29 and March 1.

The alliances that the STRIKER team was a part of finished with a record of four wins, four losses, and two ties in ten qualification matches. As one of the top teams, STRIKER was selected as part of an alliance for the elimination matches on Saturday afternoon, where they were eliminated after dropping their first two matches.

The STRIKER team adopted the theme of “Green Man Group” for this year’s competition, with team members wearing masks, gloves and body paint to help create the illusion of an entire team made up of green men, similar to the famous, “Blue Man Group.”

Ed O’Connor, an engineer who has worked with Saint Patrick students as a mentor since the STRIKER program began 12 years ago, was honored with the prestigious “Woodie Flowers Award,” given by FIRST to one mentor for his or her contributions to the students on their team.

O’Connor, who routinely drives up to an hour and a half, four times a week, to mentor the team, quietly leads by example. ”Ed doesn’t do a lot of talking, but when he does speak it’s about the problem or task at hand,” said senior co-captain Jeremy Schultz. “The only thing Ed asks for is that the students learn something, have fun, and live and act with gracious professionalism.”

Under O’Connor’s guidance the STRIKER team has really developed into a second family. O’Connor’s wife Leslie serves as the team’s “spirit coordinator”, and with her friendly, outgoing, energetic personality, she provides a perfect counter to Ed’s more low-key approach. FIRST has become a family affair for the O’Connors. Their son, a commercial artist, even got into the act this year, designing a unique shamrock logo, featuring the heads of three Saint Patrick administrators, for the competition.

Ed O’Connor’s influence has had a profound effect on some of his students, “not only has Ed taught me how to work with tools and approach mechanical problems, but he also inspired me to pursue a career in Electrical Engineering,” said senior co-captain Konrad Andrejczuk. “What he has done for me so far has touched me so deeply that I might as well dedicate the rest of my life to Ed. Without him, I would be lost; I wouldn’t know what to do with my life,” said Andrejczuk.