Pierce High robotics team qualifies for international competition – NORTHEAST

PIERCE, Neb. — Seniors Travis Emory and Tate Reinke often get noticed in public but not for athletics.

“After worlds last year, I have people down at the gas station [asking], ‘How’s the robot doing [and] what’s the game like this year?'” Reinke said. “That’s a lot of questions.”

“All the time I’m getting people [saying] ‘How’s the robot? Are you guys ready for worlds?'” Emory said.

Reinke and Emory are half of the Pierce High robotics team, and they’re heading to the World Robotics Championship for the second year in a row.

“This year, now that it’s my second year going, I’m not nervous as to what we’re going to do,” Reinke said. “I’ve already been through it.”

The team qualified for world’s at the VEX Nebraska State Over Under Championship, ranking 171st out of 6,300 teams for the skills category.

The students put in hours of work, learning design systems and coding.

“We’ve had 15 practices that are one hour [to] two hours long,” Emory said. “This robots probably been close to 40 hours.”

Good chemistry is needed both in and out of competition.

And, like any productive team, they need good chemistry. Though, that can be tough when your teammate is your sister.

“She’ll be working on one side [and] I’ll be working on the other side,” freshman Makayla Schefl said. “We do two different things. We argue about which one is right.”

“It’s actually happening right now with our flappers,” senior Amber Schefl said.

Technology Coordinator Treva Dostal said the team’s work ethic shines at every practice.

“Those things don’t just come in an hour and we’re ready to go,” Dostal said. “The dedication that these students have produced in the last two years is incredible.”

The team heads to Dallas where they will compete with students across the globe at the Worlds VEX Competition on April 25 to 27.