MacRobotics Wins Big at Indiana VEX IQ State Championship Indianapolis, IN –After working tirelessly since the beginning of the school year to prepare themselves to compete in the VEX-IQ Ringmaster challenge, MacRobotics teams 10277A, 10277D and 10277E walked away big winners at the Indiana State Elementary VEX IQ Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium. Competing with 150 Indiana teams for 60 World Championship spots, MacRobotics secured three bids to Worlds!
Team 10277D (Ryland Hochstetler, Michael, Lame, and Gregory Zellers) provided some stiff competition at the state tournament. Hanging in the top 10 spots for teamwork driving in their division all day, they ended by winning not one-but two awards! They finished in third place teamwork, which earned them an automatic bid to Worlds. They also won the well-deserved Build award, which is given to the team with the most sturdy, well-crafted robot. This will be Team 10277D’s second year earning a bid to Worlds.
Next, Team 10277A (Breanna Johnson, Lila Pack, and Julia Valerius) represented girls in STEM well by also hanging in the top 10 spots for teamwork driving in their division throughout the day. The girls also performed well in the skills driving portion of the competition, earning fourth place in their division. They received their bid to Worlds by earning the third place teamwork award. This will be 10277A’s second year earning a bid to Worlds. Girl power!
Rounding out this event was 10277E’s (Simon Kuiper, Joelius ‘JoJo’ Leonard, and Troy Pence) win with the STEM Research Project Award. Their news anchor skit about robot mosquitos that would inject humans with a Zika antivirus wowed the judges. Their team dedicated hours to research and create their project and their bid to Worlds was well deserved. This will be 10277E’s first year earning a bid to Worlds.
With this outstanding performance from these three teams, EACH has earned an invitation to the VEX IQ World Championships at the Kentucky Convention Center in Louisville, KY. This three day event will have 400 teams from around World! This once in a lifetime opportunity happens at the end of April.
The MacRobotics team started five years ago with Alycia Graczyk. Without her years of dedication and service to the team, their success would not be a reality. Currently, the team is led by Coach Sara Colvin and assistant Dennis Hilburger, a dedicated local community member and former engineer. Absolutely none of this would be possible without the monetary support of the Crown Point Community Foundation and other local businesses. We would also like to thank the MacArthur Elementary staff, students, and parents for your continuous support. If you would like more information about our team or interested in contributing to our Worlds Competition fun please contact Mrs. Colvin at scolvin@cps.k12.in.us.