WildStang to defend world title Dist. 214 robotics team headed to St. Louis

Going into a competition as the reigning champions could give a team a big head, but the WildStang aren't taking anything for granted.

The group of more than 60 robotics students from Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and dozens of mentors - engineers from Motorola Solutions and other local companies - won the world FIRST Robotics Competition title last spring. They hope to repeat that performance as they compete against hundreds of other teams starting Thursday in St. Louis.

Team members had six weeks to build their robot before shipping it to the competition. They have been making adjustments to a duplicate prototype for weeks, and they will have only one day to implement them on the contest robot once they get to St. Louis, head coach Mark Koch said.

"We want to be one of the teams in the hunt for the title, and we will be one of those teams," Koch said. "It takes some combination of skill and luck to win, so I can't predict we'll come out on top, but we are driven."

The competition calls on the robot to complete several challenges, including playing a modified basketball game and a balancing act, among other strategy-life tests.

Harrison Drake, a senior from Arlington Heights, said he's spent at least 450 hours on the project in the past few months alone. He isn't sure WildStang will win nationals again, but he believes they are a top-five program.

"Once you get there, one match could make or break a season, so it can be a little stressful," Drake said.

Last year's win was the third for WildStang, which was also world champion in 2003 and 2009.

"It was amazing," said Jacki Rohde, a senior at Rolling Meadows. "I was in the stands in shock, crying. I just couldn't believe it."

Although another win would be exciting, team members said they're focused on the bigger picture and how being a part of WildStang will help their futures.

"Even though we're building robots, what we're really doing is trying to get kids into college," said Al Skierkiewicz, who has been mentoring WildStang for 17 years. "These guys keep me young. Youth is contagious, and I want to catch as much of it as I can."

Drake, who plans to study engineering at Purdue, said he feels much more prepared because of the experiences he's had with WildStang and working with professional engineers.

"It's a lot of fun; it's competitive, and what I want to do 20 years down the line is be an engineer," Drake said.

For Rhode, a junior at Rolling Meadows, who was planning to become a doctor, WildStang changed her plans.

"This is what turned me on to engineering," she said. "Everything is a puzzle. It's different way of looking at the world."

The competition in St. Louis will have special meaning for one mentor and employee at Motorola. Tiffany Gach, who hasn't been to a championship since her senior year at Rolling Meadows, said FIRST is like a sporting event, "except it's a sport for the mind."

Gach was on WildStang as a student at Rolling Meadows High School between 2003 and 2006. After graduating from college, she came back to the suburbs for a job with Motorola, and the ultimate goal of helping mentor the current team.

"My dad told me when you get something good in life, you should give back," Gach said. "Since this is what made me want to be an engineer, I want to come back and hopefully inspire others to do the same."