World Qualifiers—Again!
For the second time in two years, a Pierce has qualified for the world robotics competition. The Twisted Elix'rs, team 71414A, had a roller-coaster ride of success, failures, and emotions at the 2024 VEX Nebraska State Over Under Championship.
"Although the 48 hours we spent at the state tournament were the most stressful 48 hours of my life, I am very proud of how we performed,” Travis Emory, two-year team member describes. “We have spent an unfathomable amount of time in the robotics room this year building/rebuilding and programming this robot, and it feels good to know that the time we spent was worth it. It is cool coming from small-town Pierce to be competing against some of the best robots in the world, including teams from Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Taiwan, Uganda, United Kingdom, and Vietnam."
The Pierce team started off getting a solid score of 351 in skills (181 driver skills and 170 in autonomous programming), which positioned the team in sixth in the skills portion which combines the driver and autonomous scores.
The qualification matches were very stressful. Qualification partners are randomly assigned in VEX Robotics. Three of the four Pierce losses were directly related to two assigned partners struggling with catastrophic robot failures and one who was disqualified for too many illegal match loads. Despite the partner issues and their own minor violations and missed elevations, the Pierce team finished 4-4 in qualifying.
However, the autonomous programming was better, which is critical in team qualification rankings.
The key to success for Pierce was getting seven out of eight win points, which placed them in ninth position.
The Twisted Elix'rs selected a team from Omaha South as their tournament partner. Twisted Elix’rs won their first match and lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champions.
“I am so proud of our team for making it to worlds! Although our pairings for the qualification matches were unfortunate, we kept our heads up and pushed forward,” remarks second year team member Amber Shefl. “Our team has worked so hard and spent so much time fixing and rebuilding our robot. I'm glad that our hard work has paid off and that we refused to let our robotics season end at state. Coming from a small town, it’s amazing that we were able to make our mark and prove that excellence can come from anywhere. Along with many other academic accomplishments, competing at worlds will forever make my senior year memorable."
In addition to qualifying for the world competition, Pierce was named the Amaze Award winner, which is presented to the team that has built the most consistently high scoring and competitive robot. The award is given to the team with high quality robot construction, the programming is effective, successful, and consistent and the team members understand and explain how they worked together to develop their robot. First-year member, Makayla Shefl, expresses, "Being a freshman on a team of seniors has been intimidating, but overall it has been very rewarding. I have really enjoyed experiencing and learning about VEX as well as spending time with my teammates. I have learned so much about every area of robotics whether that be programming, designing, building, or strategizing. It has been an amazing season to start out my high school career. This season has truly been filled with exciting opportunities and making it to worlds is the best thing a freshman can ask for especially since our school doesn’t have an elementary or middle school team. I am excited to see other teams compete, next year’s game, and the overall experience of worlds."
Because of their high skill placing, the team has qualified to compete at the World VEX Robotics Championship held in Dallas, TX with more than 800 teams from more than 35 countries across the world in April. Four-year robotics participant, Tate Reinke, says, "Making it to worlds a second time is the best way to end my four years of robotics. This year's team has put in all the hard work necessary for our achievement. It's fun to go to the state competition with all of these big schools and be able to compete with and against them."
The Pierce High School Robotics Team will compete in Dallas, Texas, April 25-27 for the Worlds VEX Competition.
"I am extremely proud of this team. They spend countless hours researching, developing, testing, and rebuilding,” coach Dostal says. “Their drive and perseverance through adversity has been second to none. I cannot wait to see them compete in Dallas!!!"
