Gray's Reef Southeast ROV MATE Competition Announces the 2008 Winners 1st Place - Pickens HS, Jasper, GA 1st Place - Pickens HS, Jasper, GA 2nd Place - Socastee HS, Myrtle Beach, SC 2nd Place - Socastee HS, Myrtle Beach, SC On early Saturday morning April 26, 2008 fourteen teams gathered in Savannah at the Chatham County Aquatic Center to fire up their machines and “strut their stuff”. With a palpable excitement in the hot humid air the teams tended their tethers and piloted their machines to pluck rocks from a simulated black smoker, insert a thermometer into its mouth to take a reading and collect wily crabs that hung around the base. It was an excellent event of organized chaos with coaches just as jazzed as their teams of students. Competition was stiff and as the day progressed four teams vied closely for the coveted top two positions, in the end however, it came down to two teams bringing it home. After the two pool trials were completed and scores tallied along with those from the technical report, poster and engineering presentation the two top scorers emerged.  Pickens High School of Jasper, Georgia took first place honors and Socastee High School of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina took second place honors. These two teams will move on to the 2008 MATE International ROV Competition that will be held in San Diego, California June 26 - 28.   These two top scoring teams were followed very closely by third place winners Carrollton High School of Carrollton, Georgia and fourth place winners Central Gwinnett High School of Lawrenceville, Georgia. These teams will serve as alternates should one of the top two teams not be able to make it to the international competition. Congratulations to all the competing teams for all their hard work that went into developing and building their machines and for all the long hours of practice and  to the coaches, teachers, parents, supporters and mentors for giving their teams such terrific, dedicated support! Mark your calendars now, the date for next year’s Gray’s Reef Southeast Region ROV MATE Competition has been tentatively scheduled for Saturday, 11 April 2009. The staff and volunteers of Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary look forward to seeing all the teams again next year! For more information, please contact Cathy Sakas at Cathy.Sakas@noaa.gov.