SHERBURNE — On Saturday, December 6, Sherburne-Earlville’s robotics program competed at the first VEX Robotics Tournament held in Northern New York State. It was the first of three tournaments to be held at Chittenango High School. Thirty-two teams from the region competed in the tournament to play this year’s game, Push Back, where competitors scored points by placing blocks of their team’s color into the four tube-shaped goals. Additional points are awarded for each goal that had more blocks of their team’s color and for parking in the matching zone at the end of the match. Teams could also compete in the Skills challenge, where a solo robot attempted to score as many points as possible in one minute.

Team 13460B Womp Womp, comprised of third-year 11th grade driver Blake Smith, fourth-year 11th grader Avery Solloway, and second-year 10th-grader Nate Sherwood, finished the qualifying rounds with a record of 6-1, ranking sixth overall despite losing their second match due to the mechanical failure of their intake mechanism. Their excellent driving, consistently high scores, and being one of two robots able to de-score blocks earned them the Judge’s Award and seventh place in the Skills challenge. During alliance selection they were chosen by the undefeated rank #1 team, 64040B Lake George Robotics, who also claimed the Excellence Award and placed second in Skills. The powerful alliance swept the elimination bracket to be crowned Tournament Champions.