Wahkiakum Mecha Mules set unofficial record on obstacle course

Last Thursday, March 26, at the Julia Butler Hansen Pool in Cathlamet, the western Washington Regional Qualifier for high school robotics ran under clear skies and light winds. The weather proved to be a very welcome change from previous years. The Wahkiakum Mecha Mules team set an unofficial world speed record for the Obstacle course of 38 seconds by maneuvering through five hoops and returning back to the starting line using very well-honed pitch controls on an incredible, fish-like robot designed by Chloe and piloted by Steve. The next closest time was 58 seconds. However, in order to win the tournament, teams need to perform well in this event, as well as two others. One of the events, Mission Course, is where the participants move objects between underwater platforms. The other event, Technical Design Report, is where students present their engineering design process. As the scores were tallied up, there was a tie for first place between the Wahkiakum Mecha Mules and the "Spaghetti Eaters," an NJROTC team from Liberty High School in Issaquah. The first tiebreaker for the competition is team score on the Mission Course. Liberty finished first, while Wahkiakum took fifth. As a result, Liberty earned the title this year. In a very close third behind Wahkiakum was the Naselle Bubbleheads, who finished only one point behind the leaders.