North Fork robotics team finishes fourth, returns home from world competition in Texas

The North Fork robotics team returned home Sunday to a hero’s welcome — complete with an escort from multiple local fire departments — after competing at a global competition in Texas.

The 26-member R.I.C.E 870 squad — featuring students from Southold, Mattituck and Greenport high schools — finished fourth in its division during the three-day tournament in Houston. The event featured roughly 600 teams from around the world.

Students rode back in school buses escorted by a motorcade of Cutchogue, Mattituck and Southold fire department vehicles — sirens blaring as they made their way through town.

The North Fork team won the Long Island Regional competition March 21 and the New York Tech Valley Regional April 18. At worlds, team mentor Ashley Monti said the squad faced a “difficult match schedule,” but showcased their robot’s abilities against top teams.

In the Curie Division, the top eight teams advanced to the playoffs and selected partners to form three-team alliances, Ms. Monti said. Those alliances competed head-to-head to score the most points in a game where robots had to collect balls and shoot them into a basket. 

Team R.I.C.E. 870 ranked lower than it had at regionals after qualification rounds April 29 and 30.

“We were hoping to be a second-round pick during alliance selection,” Ms. Monti said Monday. “To our surprise, the fourth alliance in the Curie Division asked Team 870 to form an alliance with them, as their first-round pick, and we graciously accepted.”

The North Fork team paired with Hemlock’s Gray Matter from Hemlock, Mich., and Broncobots from Summit, Mo. The alliance advanced to round four of six and finished fourth in the Curie Division.

Though the team did not qualify for the World Finals on the Einstein Field, Ms. Monti said “it was an amazing experience nonetheless.”