This past weekend Wahkiakum 4H Robotics went to the Showare Center in Kent for the FIRST Tech Challenge State Championships. While our team and robot performed better than it ever has, we finished as one of the "also-rans." Team members shared their thoughts on the day and what we learned:

Ben McLain: "It was fascinating to see all of the different teams competing. They all had really intuitive ideas and it was nice to see how it all came together. It was a really friendly environment."

Erik Kolditz: "It was really fun to compete against all of these teams from bigger and small schools, and see all of the ideas. Everybody was really cool and really friendly. It was an awesome time."

Camille Kolditz: "It was fun to compete. My favorite part was seeing all of the other teams and the other robots so we could get new ideas. And I really liked working with my team."

Ron Wright: "From a coach's perspective I really enjoyed our first state competition, and what I liked most was that our robot has now run two years in a row, for at least five matches at every event, without fail. The students problem-solved on the fly and really represented 4H and Wahkiakum well. We learned a lot at this event for this level of competition; most significant is that we need to better understand process controllers and how to implement them in our robot designs. We also need some technical mentors."

Several of our team members could not make the trip: Morgan Bashore (CEO and engineering manager), Chuck Barton (captain and lead programmer), Damaris Blalock (lead builder), Lydia Blalock (lead scout), Joe Blalock (assistant coach). We traveled in style as Ross Kolditz drove us to the event in his motor home and made us fresh hot lunch. A new tradition is born!

Our next event is the Wahkiakum Wohbot Wohundup, March 15, hosted by our very own Wahkiakum High School. Come check out all things robotics happening in our county.