Photo Provided Members of the Robo-Raiders team from Triadelphia Middle School prepare to compete at the Gateway To The West robotics tournament happening this week at The Highlands Sports Complex. Pictured from left are Temperance Emmons, Katelyn Maloney, Chris Zelek, Evan Clatterbuck, Sebastien Molina and Amos Racer.

TRIADELPHIA — Middle school competition concluded Wednesday at the Gateway To The West robotics tournament in Ohio County, with teams from California and Maryland winning the right to attend the world robotics championships this spring.

No local teams made it to the final rounds, but students said they nevertheless learned a lot from competing and it wasn’t just about math and engineering

They said they learned about teamwork, cooperation and social skills that will help them with their careers later in life.

The alliance formed by teams from Acadia, California and North Potomac, Maryland took home first place and the impressive trophies crafted by career and technical education students at Wheeling Park High School. They will next compete at the VEX World Robotics Championship May 6-14, in Dallas, Texas.

Joining them there will be a team from Saratoga, California, who won the “Excellence Award” at Gateway To The West for the book they turned in describing their robotics work.

A total of 69 middle school teams competed in the Ohio County tournament. The local team finishing highest was the RoboRaiders from Triadelphia Middle School, who ended with a ranking of 23.

The Cinnamon Toast Crunchers, an all-girl team from Sherrard Middle School, finished in 33rd place. The Pacer Test, a team from Bridge Street Middle School, was awarded the sportsmanship award for the tournament.

“I’m just excited we get to keep one of the trophies here. They are so pretty,” said JoJo Shay, innovation coordinator for Ohio County Schools.

The RoboRaiders team stayed to watch the finals before heading home Wednesday.

“It’s been a good learning experience,” said team member Temperance Emmons. “I’ve learned social skills that will probably help me to get a job later. I find it’s so much easier to talk to people.

“You have to talk to people to make bridges so that all can get across. Everyone becomes all one team with you, and you get better.”

Amos Racer said he enjoyed robotics because it involved “building stuff and creating stuff.”

“I’m going to stick with it, he said. “I don’t know yet what I’m going to do (for a career), but if I’m doing this now I should get something in mind.”

Ana Klemm, robotics coach at Sherrard Middle School, was happy with the showings of her students.

“These events bring in so many good teams, and we had so many hiccups with the weather. We came in rusty,” she said. “But we’ve had success this year. Two of our teams already have qualified for the state tournament.

“It’s all about what you can learn and take back with you that makes you better.”

The tournament ended at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday – about a half-hour sooner than was expected.

“We’re ecstatic that all the teams made it, and that we stayed on time,” Shay said. “We were organized. We finished early two days in a row, which is amazing.

“The kids seemed to have fun, and they’re meeting new people. At the end of the day it is about them and learning new skills they will use in their life, so it was an overall success,” she added.