Last Saturday, the eight VEX Robotics teams of Niles North traveled to Batavia to compete in the Illinois VEX State Championship. At the end of the day, one of these teams, known as the Majestic Emus, captained an alliance to become the tournament champions, which qualified them for the World Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.
This victory, along with the outstanding performances of each of the other seven teams, not only earned the school it’s second consecutive state championship, but also solidified Niles North as a major force to be reckoned with in the state of Illinois.
“All eight Niles North teams had an amazing season, so I knew that success would carry on into the state competition,” Robb Barton, teacher and sponsor of the robotics teams, said. “We had practiced so much in the weeks leading up to the competition, so most teams were well prepared. The scrimmage we had the week before had some scores that we haven’t even seen in Illinois this year.”
Since May, the teams have been working on robots for this year’s game, Skyrise, which consists of scoring cubes on posts varying in height from two feet to four feet. They have worked on Wednesdays after school, during free periods, and on some Saturdays to improve their robots and practice.
“All the students involved with the club work so hard for each and every competition. I’m blown away by how so many of them sacrifice some of their Saturdays in order to improve their robot,” Barton said.
During last year’s season, the team blew everyone away by becoming tournament champions at their first ever state championship. However, the performance of the teams at this year’s state championship was in some ways even more impressive, as seven of the eight teams made it into the elimination rounds. After the quarterfinals, there was a Niles North team on each of the remaining alliances.
“I think I was still surprised with the results because a Niles North team was six of the eight alliances for the final tournament. I didn’t expect our chances for winning state to be that good until the alliance selection,” Barton said. “For two North teams to be in the finals head-to-head was surprising too.”
Though every team at Niles North had an impressive performance at the state championship, the Majestic Emus’ victory was not due to luck. Rather, their victory came from their hard work, dedication, and, most importantly, communication throughout the season. The six members of the team are sophomores Mirnes Neziric, Jordan Greenfield, David Fernandez-Wang, Evan Gowell, Umar Zahiruddin, and Abhay Patel, as well as their helpers, sophomores Griffin Dunn and Larry Lau. The team had someone working on the robot during almost every period of the school day.
“The amount of time they put in to their bot played a huge role in the Emu’s win. The other, which I feel is the most important, was the communication within the team. Every single one of the members knew what their bot was made of and what it could do,” Barton said. “The fact that they all came together and were able to do this as sophomores is incredible.”
Now that the state competition is over, so is the season for some teams. However, the Emus, along with two other teams, Hazardous Motion and Robotechnics, will be competing in the U.S. Open, commonly referred to as Nationals, in early April. The Emus will then go on to compete at the World Championship later in the month.
“When we go to Nationals and Worlds next month, it will feel like a different universe. The robots you see there are mind-boggling,” Barton said. “I hope we can continue qualifying in future years because I believe it will make us better and better.”
