Ridgebotics takes 25th at worlds

Karen Manley • May 2, 2017

Fossil Ridge High School’s Ridgebotics team took 25th place out of 68 teams in their division in the World Competition held in Houston, Texas during the week of April 24. In addition, the team received the Pit Safety Award in their eighth consecutive tournament.

Despite the team’s positive attitude, they faced many struggles heading into the match, causing them to miss playoffs. “We had to completely rebuild the bot in a day after getting CRUSHed by team CRUSH at Denver, who actually won the championship. After the rebuild our inability to get our climbing mechanism working for the early matches caused us to not seed quite high enough,” reflected Richard Thompson.

“The best part [of the tournament] was definitely the conferences. We were able to attend seminars from people and companies like Dean Kamen, Nasa, Boeing, and many more,” Thompson said. “But it was amazing getting to meet high quality teams from all over the world. And despite not making it to playoffs we performed really well this year, poising us for another run next year.”

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About the Contributor

Karen Manley, Editor in Chief

Karen Manley, a senior, has been in the journalism program since her freshman year. She feels most at home when writing about Unified Sports and activities, mental health, and other topics that people may not pay enough attention too. This year, Karen will be Co-Editor in Chief. Her responsibilities include taking care of the class emotionally and making sure that the paper runs smoothly. Karen explains “I’ve wanted to be an Editor in Chief since I was a freshman here. I am very excited to execute some of my ideas.”

Karen was in born San Diego, California and moved to Fort Collins when she was 14 years old. She currently lives with her family, including her mom, dad, and brother. She enjoys her friends' company, being the Co-Historian for NAHS, taking AP courses including Studio Art, geocaching, going on bike rides, and playing board games.

As a senior, Karen knows that she wants to further her education after leaving Fossil Ridge High School. She hopes to attend either UNC or Eastern Washington University to study journalism. She also wants to take a gap year to serve in AmeriCorps. After she completes college, she hopes to have graduated with a degree in order to pursue war journalism. Karen would like to become a journalist focused on the people living through hardship to shed light on problems rarely addressed.

Karen’s undeniable devotion to Etched in Stone can be seen clearly in her bubbly, kind, and sincere personality. She is excited to leave Fossil Ridge High School with a bang. Her dedication to Etched in Stone over the past three years has helped make the paper what it is today.