Pacifica Stories

On Saturday, October 17, Pacifica’s campus became a flight arena. Our 4th annual “Pacifica@Santa Monica Bay” drone tournament opened the competition season for the entire West Region, bringing seven high school teams from three schools together for a full day of piloting, problem solving, and friendly rivalry.

Pacifica entered four teams of its own, the Flying Seawolves 1, 2, 3, and 4. They competed alongside two Navy Junior ROTC teams from Troy High School and one team from El Camino Real High School, the Pengwings. It’s a long way from the club’s start. Pacifica’s Aerial Drone Competition Club launched in 2023 and hosted the first drone tournament for the Westside of Los Angeles. Four years in, the event has grown into a regional season opener.

Each tournament awards seven honors. Three are the top awards, and those winners may qualify for an invitation to the West Regional Championship in spring 2027. This year’s results were:

• All-Around Champion: Troy A
• Teamwork Mission Champions: Pengwings and Troy A
• Solo Mission Champion: Flying Seawolves 2
• Communications Award: Troy H
• Coding Award: Flying Seawolves 2
• Airmanship Award: Flying Seawolves 1
• Judges Award: Pengwings

Two of the awards, the Teamwork and Solo Mission Championships, are decided purely by performance on the field. The other five are chosen by a panel of judges, and each team can earn only one judged award per tournament. That makes a strong showing from the Flying Seawolves worth celebrating. Flying Seawolves 2 swept the Solo Mission Championship and the Coding Award, and Flying Seawolves 1 took home the Airmanship Award for its flying.

A tournament like this takes far more than pilots and drones. It runs on the generosity of our parent community. Susan Doolittle and Sandy King led the effort as lead drone parents and helped pull the whole event together, with Susan also serving as emcee. Steph Der and Michelle Orso ran the concession stand. Dennis King served as Head Referee with three assistant referees, and Brandon Lee served as Judge Advisor alongside three assistant judges. Mat Mulligan handled the projector and monitor displays. We are grateful to each of them for giving our students, and teams from across the region, such a well-run day of competition.

Congratulations to every team that competed, and to Troy High School and El Camino Real High School for making the trip to join us. We can’t wait to see where the season takes our Flying Seawolves next.