All Girls Team!!

We are very excited to officially announce that we have started an all girls solar race team! Team members include Reagan Byrne, Hillary Colbert, Whitney George, Catherine Marsh, Sydney Harrel, Elise Mobley, Suzy Reese, and Karmen Spratlin. Our advisors will be Anita Ellison and Donna Turman (E.T.) We are currently working on our design and have gotten a lot great ideas so far!

Kickin' off the Year!

This August brought not only the start of school, but also our first team meeting!

Little did we know, it wasn't just going to be a meeting, but we were going on a practice run. We went down to the by-pass here in Houston and let some of our drivers practice.

Team member Allyson Parker practicing a safety stop.

This meeting was also the first meeting for our newest member, Catherine Marsh.

Nick Callahan making a driver change.

Thanks for being a good sport and wearing the girl's cheetah print helmet!

Jay Alford bringing Sundancer II back to the school after running low on power. We decided to pull the car back with Mr. Reese's truck, Big Red!

Sundancer & Houston Hilltoppers

This past Friday night was quite an honor for us. We were invited to Houston's first football game to display our solar cars. This gave us a chance to interact with the community and for everyone to view our cars up close. We were happy to answer questions and share our race experiences. Thank you for this opportunity, without the community's support we couldn't have made it this far!

Members of the community getting a better look at
Sundancer I & II

Houston Sundancer Girls and Boys Team

SUNDANCER I TEAM

Josh, Dustin, Hunter, Zack, Jay Michael, Nick, Austin, Nolan, Will, Thomas, Dr. Coker &

Mr. Reese

SUNDANCER II TEAM
Karmen, Madison, Whitney, Suzy, Reagan, Allyson, Hillary, Ms James, Ms Turman &
Ms Ellison

Recognition Ceremony!

Sundancer I and II will be on display before the Houston-Eupora football game August 21 and there will be a recognition ceremony at half-time. The cars will be put on display at 6 and the game will begin at 7:30.

Thanks VFW!

We would like to thank the VFW for donating 1,411 dollars to our team and for inviting us to eat barbeque with them. The Ladies Auxilliary prepared a wonderful meal for us. It was a great experience talking to the members and hearing their stories from wars that they fought in. We appreciate the sacrifice they made for our country's freedom. Their donation was greatly needed and will be put to very good use!

Sundancer Breaks the Record!!

Here at Houston we are extremely excited about breaking the record for total number of laps made at the Texas Motor Speedway! With 554 laps(831 miles) Sundancer exceeded our competitors by 247 laps(371 miles). We are also excited about how the number of students interested in solar racing has increased; this year 19 teams entered to race in the Hunt Oil-Winston Solar Challenge! We hope it will continue to increase in the future!

Experiences from the race!

This year's solar car race was bittersweet for me. I had a great time, but it was my also sad because this was my fourth and final year. I am excited about passing on the solar car spirit to the new team members and I hope they get as much out of their many solar car experiences as I have. You go on a race with somewhat strangers, but always come back as a family. Good luck next year on your way to Colorado!! -Alisha Holder

I have learned many new lessons that will be good for next year and in life. My experience has led me to meeting a lot of new people and making new friends. I will never forget this year and I am very honored to get a chance to come. -Ashley Pounds

Through my personal experiences on this race, I've made friends and memories that will last a lifetime. I have also learned other things that will last like the importance of teamwork and preparation. When I grow old, I will be able to tell people that I built, raced, and won in a solar car around the Texas Motor Speedway. Now who can say that? - Jay Michael Alford

I had a great time racing, and I saw a lot of cars that inspired many new ideas. Even though we won and had a great time, it definitely wasn't easy. We made a lot of mistakes that should have never happened, but overall our team came together and won! I could not be more proud of our team or of our cars. - Thomas Brown

I learned that the race requires a lot of hard work and determination, and not to mention teamwork. I am looking forward to the cross-country to Colorado next year. - Nick Callahan

This trip to the Hunt Oil-Winston Solar Car Challenge was a great experience. I learned a lot about leadership and how to work on the car. Most importantly I learned a lot about how to work together as a team. I am so proud of our win, but the learning experience is best thing. - Allyson Parker

The Hunt Oil-Winston Solar Car Challenge has meant a lot to me. I have really gained a lot from this experience. I realized that winning isn't that important; working as a team, doing your best, and being fair is. I have met a lot of people and this trip has been a blast! -Reagan Byrne

I learned more at the race than I have since I became a member of the team this year. Even though it is a race, driving isn't the only job or the most important. Working as a team is extremely important and necessary for success. I enjoyed meeting members from other teams and appreciated how friendly they were. I had an amazing time at this year's race and can't wait for the cross-country from Dallas to Colorado next year!! -Suzy Reese

This was my first time to go to the race, and it was a great experience! I learned a lot more about the cars than I did before. The guys taught the girls everything that they knew about the classic car which will help us with the all girls team. During the race, my job was mainly safety officer, which was fun except for the blazing hot sun! It was definitely worth it though, and I can't wait to start racing again. - Madison Parker

This experience has been so fantastic! I think I will speak for everyone when I say that I have learned so much. We will take back so many memories from our trip, and I am already looking forward to next year . Even though our Classic car didn't win, we are happy with our second place win and how much we learned. We all worked so hard for what we got! I plan on racing next year and experiencing the same great opportunities!! - Hillary Colbert

The team became really close this week and worked together to achieve one goal. It was a great experience meeting team members from across the country. This experience is something I will never forget, and I plan on coming back next year. Our seniors Zack and Alisha will be missed!! - Karmen Spratlin

Meeting With the Exchange Club!!

On July 31, our team met with the Exchange Club and shared our individual experiences from the race! We would like to thank them for providing a great lunch, and hope they enjoyed driving our car!

Meeting with the Steering Committee!!

Our team met with the Sundancer Steering Committee July 30. We appreciate the committee coming out early to plan a recognition for our team which will be coming up soon. We will be posting the details soon! Thank you for all of your support and we hope to see you!!

Lights, Camera, Solar Car!!

While at this years race we had the great opportunity to meet Zack Van Eyck. He's a screenwriter who is planning to make a movie about solar car racing. He was excited to discuss our plan for an all girls team next year with Suzy Reese. Mr. Eyck plans to film the race as we travel from Texas to Colorado next year!

THANK YOU!!

The Sundancer solar car team would like to thank Dr. Marks and his students for everything they did for all of the teams during this years race. They worked hard to make sure our racing experience was as enjoyable as possible. We really appreciate the water they provided (Which was very much needed!) Once again thank you for everything you did for us. We can't wait to come back next year!!!

Saying Goodbye to Our Seniors!

The entire Sundancer solarcar team would like to say goodbye to our seniors Zack Huffman and Alisha Holder. They have taught us so much and we will miss them greatly. We want to wish them good luck in life and thank them for a great time on solar car. We love you!!

Unpacking!!

Hillary Colbert, Ashley Pounds, and Karmen Spratlin

helping unload the trailer

Hunter Powell and Nick Callahan making sure

we brought everything back

Team member Allyson Parker organizing

a few of our tools.

The day after returning home from the race, our team is meeting to unpack everything we brought with us. Even though we are all extremely tired ,the entire team is working together and we are getting it done very quickly. Thankfully we came back with everything we brought, and accidentally brought back a few bugs that scared a couple of our members! Thank you to all of the dedicated members that showed up today to make this happen. We know you are all very exhausted and appreciate the hard work you are putting in for the team. We would also like to thank everyone that welcomed us home at around midnight last night. It meant a lot to us and we appreciate your continued support.

We won first place with our open car and second with the classic. We are all excited for our win!!

Mr. Reese, Mrs. Turman, Mrs. Ellison

Thank you so much for all your hard work and time that you put into this so the team can do this race!! We love you guys!!

Everyone throwing their hats after the race was officially over.

That would be nineteen penalties if it wasn't over!

FINAL DAY FOUR!

Today is our last day of racing for the 2009 Winston Solar Challenge. I think that we have all had a great time, but are also missing home. It has been fun, but at the same time a lot of hard work. We have given our best every day, so hopefully all of it will pay off tonight at the awards banquet. We hope to be bringing yet another trophy back home to Houston.

Yesterday, during the second racing session, we had a few difficulties that we had to work through. First, we noticed that a solar panel was loose and about to fly off of our array! We had to make a quick stop in the pits to get it repaired before continuing on with the rest of the race.

This is what the car looked like with the missing panel before we repaired it.

That might sound like a lot to fix in one afternoon, but it's not. There was more. When we thought we were about to be making our final laps of the day, we had a blow out on the front right tire.

After the race, we still had a little time to have some fun while we waited for the car to charge!
Zack, Ashley, and Reagan were riding on our magic carpet (foam).

THE GRADUATES!

This summers solar car race will be Zack and Alisha's last one with our team. They are the only two team members to just graduate high school. Zack will be going to Ole Miss in the fall and Alisha will be going to East Mississippi Community College. We are going to miss them and we hope they will come visit us on next years race!

WINSTON SOLAR CHALLENGE 2009

VISITORS FROM HOME!

Some of the proud parents from back home came all the way to Texas to support the Sundancer team!

Amy Alford, Rhonda Huffman, and Amy and Lane Callahan in the car garage at the speedway!

Veteran Sundancer member Caleb Alford, older brother of current member Jay Michael Alford, visited the race today to watch Jay and the team. We are happy to have a former member here at the race for advice and support.

DAY THREE!

Day three is bringing us more work, heat, and most importantly laps that will hopefully help us add to our collection from the first two days. Even though we have had a successful start, there is still work to do and heat to endure. Our team has toughed it out and we are still going strong. With two more race days left we are hoping to have the same results that we have had the past two days.

THE GIRLS GETTING THIER HANDS DIRTY

JUST PICTURES!

Sundancer about to pass two other solar cars.

Jay finally taking a break!

Reagan Byrne making a lap around the track.

We can not go to any kind of solar event, especially the Winston Solar Challenge, without thanking one of our main sponsors, Schott Solar. Our car, with our Schott Solar Cells, has outlasted and out performed our competitors for the past eight years. It seems this year is going to be no different. As a matter of a fact, Sundancer, competing in the open divison, is out performing the advance divison cars which have A-300 solar cells.

Thank you for supporting us throughout our years of solar car racing!