Celebrating 30 years of MORT and 15 Years of Hosting FRC Mount Olive

From March 27-29, MORT hosted the FIRST Robotics Competition Mount Olive event, and it was an incredible weekend. This year marked 15 years of MORT hosting the event and over 30 years of the team inspiring students in robotics and engineering.

The competition weekend was full of energy, teamwork, and intense matches. Over 30 teams came to showcase their robots, win awards, and cheer for each other.

Congratulations to teams 8513 (Sisters 1st), 8706 (MXS Bulldog Bots), 6945 (Children of the Corn), and 430 (MORT Gamma) for being this year’s winners! Your dedication and hard work on the field stood out, and it was awesome to watch!

One of the highlights of the event was seeing students from Malcolm X Shabazz High School, were featured in a segment on ABC News, winning their first-ever regional championship.

This showed that FIRST is more than just winning.

As for MORT, we had an amazing turn out as well. We finished as 2nd place finalists along with 1676 (The Pascack PI-oneers), 9116 (The Canucks & Bolts), and 10997 (St. George).

We were also honored to receive the Engineering Inspiration Award.

This award recognizes teams that make a real impact by promoting engineering and STEM, especially through outreach, recruiting students, and getting the community involved. It means a lot to us because it reflects the work we do both inside and outside of competitions.

The event itself ran smoothly thanks to all the volunteers, mentors, and students who helped make it happen.

Overall, the weekend was a great reminder of what FIRST is all about. It is not just competition, but also collaboration, growth, and inspiring others.

After 30 years as a team and 15 years of hosting this event, MORT continues to build our impact, and this event was another example of that.