ABOVE: Tyler Slama, Colton Anderson (above), Jacob Kastning (below), Isaac Stone and Sam Grogin work diligently on their robot during a practice session on Monday evening.

FAIRMONT – With a disappointing 2023-24 season in mind, Fairmont High School’s ‘Megahertz’ robotics team is reflecting and moving forward.

The varsity team, which has students in grades 9-12, had come off a 2022-23 season which saw them win the state championship and compete at nationals in Houston, texas. Head Mentor Sam Viesselman said after that success, they bit off more than they could chew.

“In 2022-23, we made a robot that was like a six out of 10,” he said. “Last year we tried to make one that was 10 out of 10. When you reach for that, sometimes you fail, crash and burn. One of our core values is to not overreach, keep things simple. Last year, I think based off the excitement of being state champions and qualifying for Worlds, we thought we could do anything.”

With this result in mind, Viesselman said the team should re-center themselves moving forward.

“The big thing about, really anything in life, but robotics especially, is you need to be honest about where your skill, ability and resource levels are,” he said. “We still want to reach. We’re still going to push ourselves, and we’re still trying to grow, but not past the point of what we’re able to reach.”

Competition organizer FIRST Robotics Competition chooses a new challenge for teams to build a robot for every year.

“The goal is to solve engineering challenges and score points,” Viesselman said.

This season’s competition will be revealed in January. In the meantime, Viesselman said his team of 23 students has been working to sharpen their skills.

“Last weekend we went to a practice competition up in Prior Lake,” he said. “They ran the game from last year. We brought our old robot to try out all the new kids on driving and the normal roles that we do at a competition. There’s a lot of that and basic skills building.”

Sam Grogin and Isaac Stone are this year’s team captains, a Senior and Junior respectively. Grogin joined looking for an activity as a new student to Fairmont in 7th grade, while Stone turned a lingering interest in robotics into a passion after joining.

For Grogin, robotics has helped him chart a course for his life and gain the skills for doing so.

“I found my dream college,” he said. “After my sophomore year, the University of Michigan contacted us. From there, I was able to tour it and realize how much I love the school and want to pursue it. I’ve learned a lot of other skills, like how to program, design, and be a leader. We try to give back to our community as much as possible.”

Grogin and Stone agreed that last season was a difficult reality check, but necessary to their growth individually and as a team.

“That’s what engineering is about,” Grogin said. “Not about exactly winning, but learning from your failures.”

“That really helped us more as a team than winning could have ever,” Stone said. “We took so much away from last season. I think it’s only going to make us better this season.”

Looking back on his time in robotics and how he and the program have evolved since he started, Grogin said it is bittersweet nostalgia.

“I know I’ve made a lot of memories,” he said. “It’s a little sad to know this will be the last time, but I know I always make more memories in the future, that’s how things work.”

While Stone has a few years left, the motivation to excel for himself and others has him looking to exceed expectations.

“Just because it’s not my last year doesn’t mean it doesn’t give merit to push as hard as we can this year,” he said. “It’s other people’s last year. It wouldn’t be fair to them if I didn’t give my full effort.”