MOSES LAKE - Robotics teams from Columbia Basin Secondary School took first and second place in competition in Wenatchee recently.

The team of Brianne Green, James Glencoe and Alex Wawers took first place with an overall score of 16.5 points. The team of Kenny Wicks and Erich Scriven finished second with 17 points. Advisor Matt Walker said the low score wins in robotic competition.

The team was started about two years ago, and "we've been getting better and better," Walker said. When they started the CBSS teams were making the top 50 occasionally, he said, and now they're winning.

There's also a robotics team at Moses Lake High School, but the MLHS team builds different robots, Walker said.

The Wenatchee competition drew 19 teams from eight schools, Walker said. Some of their opponents in recent competitions came from schools with a science and technology focus, and CBSS is beating them, he said.

The club shows the kids some of the career options out there that put a premium on technology training. Competitions also feature speakers who pursue technical careers, from police officers who operate bomb-disarming robots to NASA scientists working on robots for space exploration.

In addition, "there's massive problem-solving" in working out the challenges that come with construction and programming, Walker said. He pretty much leaves the kids on their own to let them work things out, he said. That can make for some pretty challenging robotics, Scriven said.

A senior, he joined the team at the invitation of his best friend, who thought he would like it, "and I did," he said.

State competition is scheduled for next month in Zillah, Walker said.