Alta Robotics Earns Unexpected Surprise

Alta’s Robotics Team 4598 Icarus Innovated is bound for Houston, but the competition in Idaho comes first.

The Idaho Regional takes place March 29th and goes through April 2nd.

Ronald Strohm, Mentor of the Alta robotics team said, “The competition is different…we now know how the game works and with the additional weeks, we see it as a practice for Idaho.”

The team recently won the Regional Engineering Inspiration award at the end of year competition at the Maverick Center. This is their second year in a row going to Houston.

The regional matches were outstanding for both the veteran and rookie teams and everyone had blast with the competition.

This was a first experience for the rookies who had to step up their game plan with strategies and learn how to stay focused under pressure if they were going to compete with older students.

In this last competition, Icarus was ranked 16th place and the Rookie Team took 39th place. The rookies were in last place for the entire competition until the last day, when they won three matches back to back, securing their final spot.

Graham Cutler, who is on the Icarus team was excited and surprised when he heard he was heading to Texas. “At the beginning [of the competition], I forgot about it being an award and that it qualified for worlds,” he said.  He was speechless about getting this award and having the opportunity to move higher in the competition.

Ella Hansen, also part of Icarus, was surprised by the win. “We were not expecting something this hard to achieve,” she said. “We are going to celebrate with everyone on Alta’s team.”

Rilee Wirt, who helps the business of Icarus is leaving the team for college. Wirt has loved being part of the team and hopes that the new veterans keep having fun.

The veterans are excited to head back to Houston for round two of the world championship.