The contestants at Sonoran Science Academy's Robolympics were not an athletic bunch.
Then again, they were robots.
Buena, Vail, Carl Hayden, and Queen Creek high schools joined host Sonoran Science Academy, 2255 W. Ina Road, Sept. 16 for the second annual Robolympics.
Flowing Wells was also there, though its squad did not field a robot in events that included drag racing, bowling, tug-of-war and an obstacle course.
"Every robot is different," Sonoran Science Academy Vice Principal Dilshod Achilov said. "It is a product of their imagination and design."
The robots' movement is controlled by joysticks from a control panel the students operate.
In building the robots, students apply science, mathematics and technology.
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They are also trained to use sophisticated machinery that cuts and shapes metal.
Queen Creek's robot earned the top prize followed by Phoenix's Carl Hayden Community High School and Sierra Vista's Buena High School.
Each team took home a trophy crafted by the Sonoran Science Academy's robotic team, CRUSH 1011.
Though team CRUSH —Creating Robots Under Severe Heat — failed to claim a victory on its home turf, it was not because of a lack of commitment.
"I would be here 24/7, 365 days if I could," 10th-grader Joe Reynolds said. For Reynolds, 16, and the club's other 19 members, robots are proving to be more than just a hobby.
"It's like football," Reynolds said. "Well, for the nerds."
Participation in the club requires a promise to spend four days a week designing, building and testing a robot during build season.
Beginning in January, the club will have six weeks to construct a new robot that will compete in a high-tech sporting event.
The squad's attempt at the Arizona regional FIRST Robotics Competition held in Phoenix in March will serve as a what not to do when the team starts designing a robot for the 2007 competition.
"One thing we learned is simpler is better," Reynolds said. "We tried to go for every aspect of the game and we failed miserably. The teams that won or did well focused on one aspect."
But, more importantly, parents and teachers agreed, the students are learning about life.
"It's bigger than robots," said Joe Reynolds' mother, Margaret Reynolds. "It's the whole concept of working as a team."
A sense of teamwork is what senior Omar Kolaghsi is hoping to obtain from his return to the Sonoran Science Academy team.
Kolaghsi, 16, is back on the team after a one-year absence.
His involvement started when he was an eighth-grader.
"Everybody has to put in all their effort or it won't happen," he said.
Team mentor Michelle Lintner is a prime example of what someone can achieve through robotics.
Lintner, 18, the school's 2006 valedictorian, said her three-year stint with the team pushed her to pursue her interest in mechanical aerospace engineering.
"I came from a school where girls didn't do the geeky stuff," she said about the school she attended before Sonoran Science Academy.
Now Lintner is attending Pima Community College as a Raytheon Missile Systems scholar. She is also an intern for the company.
The knowledge she gained while building robots continues to follow her.
"You learn so many different skills that you don't think has an application in the world," she said, "but then all of a sudden it just clicks. 'Wow. I did that in robotics.' "
