Robotic Rams Advance to State

By, Mattea Wuest

On Feburary 3rd, the Robotics team competed in the League Meet Championship hosted at Bradley College in Peoria, Illinois. The Robotics team is coached by Jason Dennhardt. The team walked away with 1st place as the Winning Alliance Captain, one of the most difficult categories to win. They also were awarded 1st place Design Award, 2nd place Control Award, 3rd place Think Award, and 3rd place Connect Award. The team was able to move on to the state tournament due to winning the Winning Alliance Captain award. The Winning Alliance Captain is the captain who put together the overall winning alliance in the playoff matches. This year's team is the first time Riverdale has qualified for the Robotics state tournament in three years! The state championship will be in Elgin, Illinois on March 1st and 2nd. Senior, Ava Phelps, stated “We were all nervous going in, as we had no idea what to expect, especially considering what had happened to us last year. However, we pushed our differences aside, and once we stepped into the building, we were simply a team and a family, wanting to have fun and perform to the best of our ability.” The Robotic Rams are ecstatic for the opportunity to compete at state and to continue to show off their hard work.