Traverse City FIRST Robotics Event Draws 35 High School Teams to Compete

Forty high school robotics teams descended on Traverse City West Senior High School last week for the FIM District Traverse City Event presented by Cone Drive, a three-day competition that packed the northern Michigan campus with student engineers, custom-built robots, and the high-stakes district ranking points that shape the state championship season.

The event ran Thursday through Saturday, March 19 to 21, 2026, at Traverse City West Senior High School on North Long Lake Road. The field drew teams from towns across the northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula, with several Traverse City squads competing on home turf.

Three local teams represented the city: the RAPTORS (1711), TC Titans (3767), and Gladiators (4398), all listed from Traverse City. They were joined by the Greenspire Steel Sturgeons (9176), also out of Traverse City. For those four programs, the event doubled as a showcase in front of neighbors, parents, and classmates who could walk or drive across town to watch.

The roster stretched well beyond Grand Traverse County. Competing teams included the Petoskey Paladins (3618), Norsemen (3688) from Suttons Bay, Delta Force (3537) from Indian River, IronBots (4983) from Mancelona, Cadillac Connectors (5086), Roboherd (5110) from Elk Rapids, Red Devil Robotics (5247) from East Jordan, The Loose Connections (5504) from Pinconning, Onaway Onabots (5534), Central Lake Trobotics (5560), and Cybertronic Lancers (6087) from Ellsworth, among dozens of others. Teams from as far as Harbor Springs, Kalkaska, Mesick, Cadillac, Gaylord, Bear Lake, Manton, and Tawas City also made the trip, alongside newer programs including ProtoWarriors (10181) from Fife Lake and Casman EObots (11440) from Manistee.

The presenting sponsor, Cone Drive, is a Traverse City-based precision gearing manufacturer with a long-standing connection to the local STEM community. Cone Drive has described itself as a returning sponsor of the FIRST in Michigan District Robotics Competition in Traverse City, citing the importance of fostering STEM interest and creativity. The company, which touts nearly 100 years of engineering excellence, is headquartered in northern Michigan and employs engineers who work on gearing technology used in robotics and precision motion applications.

The competitive stakes at a FIM district event are substantial. Each team's performance in qualification matches, playoff rounds, and judged award categories translates directly into district ranking points that determine eligibility for the FIRST in Michigan State Championship. The Traverse City event was one of several FIM district competitions running simultaneously during Week 3 of the 2026 season, alongside events in Belleville, Muskegon, and other Michigan cities.

Cone Drive has emphasized its belief in supporting the kind of community-based competition that builds technical skills and creative problem-solving among northern Michigan youth. For the student teams that traveled hours from towns like Negaunee, Pinconning, and Onaway, the Traverse City gym was the proving ground for months of after-school work designing, building, and programming machines built to compete.