A Centre County team vs. the world with 40,000 fans watching? Here's why they're 'still in shock'

Tate Geiger spent the better part of his weekend at Ford Field in Detroit but didn't realize how big the professional football stadium really was — or how much room 40,000 screaming fans take up — until he looked at some photographs on Monday.

"I was like, 'Wow, this is a lot of people,'" Geiger said. In his defense, the kid was a little busy helping to make Pennsylvania history. Geiger and close to 20 other student members of the Centre County 4-H Robotics squad were part of the four-team alliance that claimed top honors in The FIRST Robotics Championship.

The are the first team from Keystone State to stake out a victory in the world competition.

"We were kind of in shock for a while afterwords," 16 year-old team member Zach Jester said. CC4H Robotics is a STEM-focused organization (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) that provides students with hands-on experience in manufacturing, programming and design.

Those skills hopefully open the door to a bright future. The 40,000 screaming fans is really more of a bonus.

To prevail against the other robots on the field in Detroit, the club had to design a machine that could lift cubes and place them at varying heights. Jester compared it to playing basketball or football.

"It's not just who has the best robot wins. It's how you drive it, how you plan it," Jester said.

Geiger appreciated having the opportunity to observe the creative flourishes implemented by other teams in Detroit.

"I really enjoyed going around to some of the other robots and just looking around, getting inspired," Geiger said.

Team member Mary Davis couldn't be in Detroit — she was busy appearing in her school's musical — but she watched some of the competition online before taking the stage. Once the curtain closed, she ran back home to her phone, where a text was waiting to let her know that the team had won.

"I'm honestly still in shock," Davis said.

She'll graduate from the Grier School in Tyrone this summer. Next up is Princeton University, where Davis will pursue a degree in environmental and civil engineering. Her time with the CC4H Robotics team should help.

"They really provide an open and welcome environment to admit that you don't know things and to learn them," Davis said.

This story was originally published April 30, 2018 at 6:54 PM with the headline "A Centre County team vs. the world with 40,000 fans watching? Here's why they're 'still in shock'."