The bar is set high for the sophomore season of the Becker High School robotics team, which competed under the banner of the “Coalition of Independent Students #4607” in state and national competition last year, and which included winning regional and state titles in their rookie season.
Coach Alex Jurek is not overly concerned with the “sophomore jinx”, the phenomenon in which a stellar rookie team is brought suddenly back to earth by the rigors of the next season.
“We started with a five-year plan,” Jurek said, “that would have seen us moving up to state-level contention at the end of that time.” The amazing success of the previous season has totally up-ended that long-term plan, he said, and events sometimes now seem to be “moving in hyper-speed” as the new team prepares for the new season now less than a month away.
Instead, the team and their “Liberty Xcelerator” robot (in honor of Liberty Paper and Xcel Energy sponsorship) captures first-place in the regional competition after being invited to join what proved to be the winning coalition in the event. An invitation to compete at the Nationals in St. Louis, MO followed, plus a good placing in the Minnesota state competition, which the team also won as a part of the wining coalition.
New Year
The new season saw 35 Becker students singing up for a spot on the robotics team, Jurek said. A group meeting Tuesday afternoon saw some veteran team members describing the challenges and goals that lay ahead for the team. The meeting also gave the students a chance to select which areas they would most like to take part in as the January “build season” grows ever closer.
The team is planning to host a pancake breakfast and live video feed of the opening day of the build season Sat., Jan. 4, Jurek said. The opening of the build instructions will take place in St. Cloud, and will be carried live on screens in the Becker High School auditorium after the breakfast. The team will then have to meet the design criteria and complete the new robot by the cut-off date of Feb. 18.
Sponsorship for the team continues to be strong, Jurek said, with local individuals and businesses already contributing to the program as the season moves forward. The team learned Tuesday that they are again the recipients of a grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (N.A.S.A.), one of only 112 schools in the nation to do so. Those funds will cover the $5,000 entry fee each team is required to raise to compete in the robotics program, Jurek said.
Given their results last year, the Becker team will also have the opportunity to mentor a new rookie team in the state competition, though they do not at present know which team that might be, Jurek said.
The Becker robotics team will begin the competition season March 22 when they compete in the regional competition at Mariucci Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
