Archer’s robotics team came in third place at their fourth competition on Sunday, Jan. 6. Captain Marie Chorpita explained that every year, the competition has a different game the teams compete in. This year’s game is called ‘Rover Ruckus.’

“We have to drive over uneven terrain, we have to pick up wiffle balls, we have to push things around, we have to actually lift up off the ground by hanging onto a hook,” Chorpita said. “That’s essentially what it is, it’s all very simple tasks but it’s a lot harder to do once you actually try.”

The event advanced the team from fifth to third place in their league, although this is only their second year competing. Their next competition will be an inter-league meet against 19 other teams.

“That’s the first round, where some teams will move on and some teams will be eliminated,” Chorpita said. “We’re hoping to move on because we were unable to last year.”

Although one of the team’s goals is to advance to the national competition, their top priority is to make sure the team won’t ‘die out’ next year.

“I don’t want other people to have to struggle that hard to get into what they are interested in,” Chorpita said. “I really want to leave a team that is not going to disappear so that other girls have this option to join a team.”

The team’s ‘Captain-in-training,” sophomore Gaby Ayala, is ‘excited’ to be on the team for the first time.

“I am learning a lot of new things. I used to code when I was younger, so it’s not hard to get into that, but I’m learning from mechanical engineering to group bonding and organization and management of the team,” Ayala said. “I’m helping out and assisting Marie in all her roles and learning things that I can use next year.”