Boyne City Blaze finish as finalist at Traverse City robotics competition

Boyne City High School's Blaze robotics team ended as a finalist and earned the Sustainability Award during a Michigan FIRST District Robotics Competition on March 16-18 at Traverse City Central High School.
Boyne City High School's Blaze robotics team ended as a finalist and earned the Sustainability Award during a Michigan FIRST District Robotics Competition on March 16-18 at Traverse City Central High School.

BOYNE CITY — Boyne City High School's Blaze robotics team ended as a finalist and earned the Sustainability Award during a Michigan FIRST District Robotics Competition on March 16-18 at Traverse City Central High School.

Boyne City Blaze was selected as a first choice for the fifth alliance by the Reed City Cyber Coyotes. The alliance partners then added the Onaway Onabots to complete the alliance. The newly forged alliance paved their way through the winners bracket, not losing a single match until the finals.

"Receiving the Sustainability Award showcases our team’s ability to maintain functions year-round," said team member Will Minnaar. "Our team is constantly growing and I’m excited to see how BC Blaze continues to innovate in the future."

FIRST competitions challenge student teams to design and build a robot made to perform specific tasks against other competitors. Students, under adult mentor guidance, also organize fundraising, develop team skills and promote their efforts.

This year's game challenges teams to design a robot that can navigate the game arena, pick up and deliver a cone or a cube, and balance on a tilting platform. Team members said Boyne City’s robot and students performed very well at the event, taking home the title of finalist and 47 qualifying points that currently place them as 22nd in the state.

“I’m really happy with how the robot performed. It was exciting to win so many playoff rounds," said teammember Ethan McQueen. "It really shows that Boyne City Blaze is a fierce competitor in the world of robotics."

The team is now awaiting a formal invitation to the state competition, which will be in Saginaw on April 6-8.

For more information about the Boyne City Blaze robotics team, visit www.boynecityblaze.com or contact the high school at (231) 439-8100.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Boyne City Blaze finish as finalist at Traverse City robotics competition