MATTAWA - Wahluke Junior High School had its first VEX Robotics Competition at the STEM Festival in Yakima on March 26, faring well, according to Principal Sean Langdon.

Wahluke entered two robots, ORAGTOY and Epic Trolling.

The ORAGTOY robot was a harvester design with the concept of running tracks to pull in the beanbags onto the ramped bed. Then it disgorged them into the ground level red or blue square for points, depending on what color alliance they were assigned to.

The Epic Trolling robot was a claw design with the idea of grabbing one beanbag at a time and lifting it into the mid-level troughs, according to the color alliance they were assigned to.

Each robot was paired with another VEX team from a competing school district and, together, the robots earned points, with the real-time team ranking being projected at both ends of the conference center.

There were 41 teams at the competition, from first-year middle school teams, to veteran high school teams.

"Wahluke teams did a great job for their first tournament," Langdon said.

Epic Trolling placed 25th out of 41, and ORAGTOY placed 29th out of 41. The highlight of the day for Wahluke came when ORAGTOY was awarded the "Judges Award" for best design.

"We have our first trophy for VEX Robotics Competition and plan on adding more with each competition," Langdon said.

The ORAGTOY team members who went to the competition include Angel Gonzalez and Jessica Arrellano (programmers, drivers, builders). Team members not in attendance were Jesse Jensen and Ulysses Cruz who helped build the robot at home.

The Epic Trolling team members who went to the competition include Andres Tapia, Jose L. Sanchez, and Jorge Godoy (programmers, drivers). Team members not in attendance were Itzel Guerrero, Esmerelda Lagunas, Yazmine Chacon, and Miguel Urrutia (builders).

"All members of the teams were extremely valuable and helpful to our success," Langdon said.