The Kimball Robotics program hosted its 8th annual “Super Mega” robotics competition on Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Kimball Area High School. There were 127 teams in grades 4-12 that participated in the event, making it the second-largest robotics event in the state of Minnesota behind the upcoming State Championships in late February and early March.
“Overall, our tournament was an incredible event,” said Kimball’s head varsity robotics coach Kevin Kieke. “We want to thank everyone who helped out in any capacity to make this event an outstanding success.”
Over 550 robotics students and over 2,000 people were in attendance for the tournament. The 100+ volunteers included Kimball robotics parents, visiting team's parents, community members and over 30 VEX Robotics alumni from Central Minnesota organizations and schools (Kimball, Albany, St. Cloud Tech, St. Cloud Apollo, Annandale).
“It was great to see so many individuals giving back to our local robotics program,” added Kieke.
Kimball’s middle school team, 739-D “Confidently Confused,” which includes Jude Willner, Jacob Bogatzki, Mason Lesnau and Oliver Kunkel, finished 2nd overall with their alliance team from Princeton to qualify for the upcoming 2025 Minnesota State Vex Robotics competition on Feb. 27 and 28. Team photo above.
Kimball Vex IQ Robotics rostered teams in both the elementary division (grades 4-6) and the middle school division (grades 7-9).
Team 55353-B “Trash Pandas” tabbed the Innovate Award and also finished 2nd overall in the elementary IQ division with their alliance team from Prince of Peace Lutheran school to qualify for the upcoming 2025 Minnesota State Vex Robotics competition on March 1. Team members include: Ivy Brau, Avery Ahlbrecht, Destin Edwards and MaKayla Freeman (pictured below).
The other elementary team to qualify for the upcoming State Championships was Team 55353-E “Banana Monkeys,” which earned the Excellence Award. Team members include: Koltin Koenig, Joe Ouke, Jaxson Holmes and Aaron Skarhus (pictured below).
The last Kimball elementary IQ team to ink an award at the competition on Jan. 25 was Team 55353-D “Cyber Sharks.” Eli Voight, Chase Unterberger and Izaya Konz (pictured below) took home the Energy Award.
“We had a packed house on Saturday at our event,” said Kimball head IQ coach Mike Kunkel. “We had a lot of fun and experienced learning opportunities throughout the day,” added Kunkel. “Thank you to our volunteers who help make events like this a possibility. I’m very proud of our IQ students for engineering their way to great results and a successful day,” stated Kunkel.
Kimball IQ has qualified two of their four elementary teams for the upcoming State Championships on March 1 at the River’s Edge Conventions Center in St. Cloud. These State Championships are free and open to the public.
With more than 400 teams from across the state of Minnesota, and more than 20,000 teams worldwide, Vex Robotics is the fastest growing robotics program. Vex brings together Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education in a classroom environment along with a competitive world. Kimball Area Public Schools offer various VEX programs in grades 3-12, involving over 50 students in the district.
If you have questions regarding robotics, please contact the Kimball Area Community Education office at (320) 398-7700 ext. 1112, or any of the dedicated coaching staff members.
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