The Norsemen Robotics team succeeded in qualifying for and competing at the FIRST in Michigan State Championship held earlier this month at Saginaw Valley State University, however, did not make it into the playoffs.
While the nine member team’s journey stopped there, it was an achievement for all involved to be able to make it to the state championship for the 11th time in Norsemen robotics history since the team’s inception in 2011.
“Even though we didn’t make it into playoffs I think all the kids were really happy to be there and really excited by just seeing this different level of play at the state championships versus the district events,” said Emma Megill, Norsemen Robotics team mentor. “These power house teams from downstate are just insane to watch.”
The Suttons Bay team made it to the state championships after competing against dozens of teams for six weeks of district events located all throughout the state. Each participating school’s robotics team attends two of the district events and their performances determine whether they’re qualified for the state championships. One-hundred, fifty-nine teams, some consisting of up to 60-70 students, from across the state came together to compete this weekend.
Megill said coming into the championships, they had a number of difficulties at the beginning with the programming of their robot that they hadn’t seen before and worked hard to problem solve and overcome some of these issues during their first few matches. Whether it was utilizing different strategies or playing defense, Megill said they had a great showing in a lot of their matches. After finishing up the matches on April 18, she said the team sat to eat lunch together and was already talking about next year’s robotics team and how to prepare before then in the off-season.
“Everybody just felt really inspired,” Megill added. “We finished in the top 150 teams in the state, and there’s almost 600 FIRST (robotics) teams in the state… that is a major accomplishment.”
Arya Cavendish, 14, the youngest Norsemen Robotics team member from Northport Public School, plans to continue with robotics every year until graduation after her positive experience participating for the first time this year. Her younger sisters who watched her throughout the process also can’t wait to participate when they’re old enough to be part of the team.
“It was a group effort to pull off making it to state. We all worked well together, especially the Drive Team,” Cavendish said.
Megill said the continued support the team’s received from the community is something they’re grateful for and has helped them get to where they are today.
“At our district competitions, we had alumni and community members attending to watch the team. Two of us, team alumni, are mentors now back with the program — I think that our team is really special because we just get such an outpouring of support from the community and we’re so grateful,” Megill said.
