For the Reporter

Following its win at the Pacific Northwest District Championship on April 7, Tahoma Robotics Club’s battle-scarred robot is in the shop preparing for its biggest challenge still to come: the FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston, TX. Bear Metalt team members are working through spring break at Tahoma Senior High School to bring their robot once more into top condition. Then the team will fly to Houston for the ultimate tournament in mid-April.

In the district championship at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, the team scored among the top three teams during qualification rounds, giving them the right to choose their partners for the final rounds. With “Team Mean Machine” from Camas, and “The Dragons” from St. George’s School in Spokane, Bear Metal’s alliance worked their way through the quarter-finals, losing the first match but taking the last two. It was the same story in the semi-finals. Then, in the final rounds, the alliance blasted through the first match, and scored in the nail-biting last seconds of the second match, earning their invitation to the World Championship.

The FIRST Robotics Championship will take place in Houston from April 19 to 22. It will feature eight competition fields operating simultaneously and hosting 400 teams from around the world. All FIRST programs, from FIRST Jr. Lego League for elementary school students to FIRST Robotics Challenge for high school students, will be represented at the tournament.