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SDSU Robotics Club hosted its first-ever Carrot Cup Jan. 17-18 with eight university teams from across the region competing and 20 teams from three states competing in the high school division.

“The teams showcased impressive engineering skills, creative designs and teamwork throughout the challenges,” according to South Dakota State University student Mason Jes, event partner for the Carrot Cup and Jacks VexU project manager.

The Robotics Education and Competition Foundation presents the Vex Robotics World Championships each year for grades elementary through college. SDSU Robotics Club has had an entry the last few years. As a host team, SDSU was unable to compete for a world-qualifying entry, but will be able to do so at future contests.

The 2026 world championships are April 25-27 in St. Louis with teams needing to qualify before March 31.

The high school competition at the Carrot Cup was particularly exciting with one point separating the top two placers. The winning alliance of Phoenix Rising and Vitality, both from Tiger Robotics in Harrisburg, nipped the alliance of Islanders of Tiger Robotics, Harrisburg, and Storm Robotics B team of Sauk Rapids, Minnesota.

In the high school competition, matches are run in alliances in which two teams are paired together and compete against another alliance. 

The skills competition champion was Wahoo Robotics, which is a combination of Saunders Catholic and Wahoo Public Schools in Wahoo, Nebraska. Tiger Robotics was the runner-up. In the skills competition, teams attempt to score as many points as possible on their own during two one-minute runs.

Wahoo Robotics also won the Excellence Award, which is given to the best overall team based on performance, design, documentation and professionalism throughout the competition.

In the university division, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln won the tournament and the Excellence Award. SDSU won the skills division.

Jes said, “The weekend was surreal. Being able to give back to the program that inspired me to study engineering at SDSU by running an event for others was incredible. To see it go so well and hear the positive feedback from teams, mentors, volunteers and faculty makes me proud to be part of this club. I hope SDSU can continue this tradition every year."

Jason Sternhagen, club adviser and a judge for the contest added, “This was my first hands-on experience with a VEX competition. I was really impressed; both with the leadership of the SDSU Robotics Club, which organized the event, and the engineering that goes into developing the robots.”

In 2025, SDSDU Robotics Club partnered with an outside organization to host the state tournament. “After seeing what could be done, the club decided to take the lead in organizing a university and high school event here,” Jes said.

In a nod to the positive sportsmanship at the event, Jes noted that South Dakota School of Mines challenged a ruling that was in its favor and gave up its spot in further elimination matches.

The these events were co-funded by the Electrical Engineering Department and the Robotic Club. Sanjeev Kumar, dean of the Lohr College of Education, gave a welcome at the start of the high school contest and the SDSU team showcased its robots during a break in the high school competition.