By Gari Voss
Thursday, April 3, 2025, Hopkins High School Tech Vikes began the preliminaries for the FIRST in Michigan State Robotics Competition. After intense competition all season, Tech Vikes 2054 entered the competition ranked 25th in Michigan. They would take Robot Cinnamon sponsored by General Motors Grand Rapids, Sebright Products, Hill Machinery, Dean’s Ice Cream, and Hopkins High School to Saginaw Valley University.
“Michigan has more robotics teams than any other district in the world. There is fierce competition,” explained Angie Flickinger, the Tech Vikes’ Mentor. “We compete through FIRST Robotics, which is a worldwide robotics competition organization. We are team 2054 Tech Vikes from Hopkins High School.”
The three days of competition at Saginaw Valley State University were rigorous. During the Thursday and Friday qualification matches, Team 2054 received a #1 Ranking with a record of 12-4-0 and were given the Quality Award. This enabled them to captain Alliance 1 with teams 33 (Bloomfield Hills), 66 (Ypsilanti), and 2771 (Grandville), all from Hopkins’ Alliance. The win garnered them 150 District Points. After some valiant Division Playoffs, Alliance 1 was eliminated in the Double Elimination Bracket during Round 4.
To achieve the 25th ranking going into the State competition, the team participated in several events where they competed with and against teams from around Southwest Michigan.
March 6-8, 2025, Tech Vikes 2054 earned a 16-4-0 record, were given the District Engineering Inspiration Award, and earned the District Event Finalist. The team captained a trio with 1076 (Ann Arbor) and 4237 (Stevensville). As Alliance 3, they were eliminated in the Finals but earned 61 District points.
The next West Michigan Event was March 20-22nd in Allendale, MI. With a record of 11-7-0 during preliminaries, Tech Vikes was Ranked 5 with awards as a District Event Finalist and the Creativity Award sponsored by Rockwell Automation. Though they were not in the top four finalists, they were the first pick for Alliance 2. Again, they were eliminated in the Finals, while earning 59 more District Points.
During the preliminaries of the Kentwood Event March 28-30th, Team 2054 was Ranked 2 with a record of 16-1-0 with the District Event and Autonomous Awards. They were the first pick of Alliance 1 and won the event.
At this point, the Hopkins Tech Vikes 2054 was ranked 25th in Michigan and was headed to the State competition at Saginaw Valley University where 163 teams were competing for the invitation to attend the international competition.
At the end of the Thursday and Friday qualifications, Tech Vikes 2054 had a #1 Ranking. The team won Match 1, but lost Match 7 which placed them in the loser bracket. They won Match 9, but lost semi-final Match 12. Their efforts earned them a 15th ranking out of 527 teams in Michigan and a trip to the international competition.
Hopkins Tech Vikes heads to Houston, Texas, to compete against 600 teams in the FIRST Championship, April 16-19, 2025. This international event culminates the youth robotics competition season and is an annual celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
FIRST in Michigan, wanting to further STEM from preschool through 12th grade, set a mission to establish a sustainable FIRST Robotics Competition team in every high school in Michigan. Their firm belief is that schools with robotic teams can strengthen their STEM connections by following the FIRST program progression that begins in preschool and moves through the grades to a student’s senior year.
To reach this lofty goal, the first three FIRST program levels begin with a hands-on approach to enable students to investigate their interests and aptitudes that fit in the areas of skilled trades, engineering, programming, and corporate problem-solving. The FIRST Lego Leagues include Discover for Preschoolers, Explore for kindergarten through 3rd grade students, and
Challenge for Upper Elementary.
Middle School transitions students from Lego Leagues to robotics with Tech Challenge. The teams are guided in designing and building an 18” by 18” robot that battles in a FIRST designed game that requires thought and innovation.
The requirement difficulty increases with FIRST Robotics Competition in High School. This is definitely the ultimate varsity sport where students have industry mentors who coach the design and build of large scale robots. After qualification rounds, teams are formed with robots from three different schools. The 3 vs 3 matches can tax the nerves of the most prolific competitor while building an instant need to work with unknown teammates.
For additional information on FIRST in Michigan and the international robotic competition, visit https://www.firstchampionship.org/. For information about the Tech Vikes, contact Angie Flickinger at angiflic@hpsvikings.org. To assist with the expenses of traveling and competing in Houston, visit https://www.facebook.com/2054TechVikes.
