Erin Whitney and Tristram Howard, both of South Portland, are respectively the project manager and pit crew captain for the Outliers robotics team at the Baxter Academy for Technology and Science.

The rookie team took first place at the Pine Tree District tournament held this past weekend and with the win sealed a place in the New England regional tournament to be held in April in Worcester, Mass.

The first-time team at Baxter Academy, which is located in Portland, is now ranked first among rookie groups in Maine and third overall in New England. At this past weekend’s event, the Outliers also won the Rookie All-Star Award.

The Outliers robotics team is open to any area student, not just those enrolled at Baxter Academy, although both Whitney and Howard do attend the school.

The team’s robot has the ability to stack storage bins topped by a recycling bin.

“We were going up against well-established teams. We are new and have almost no budget. So the team chose a simple but ingenious design that would put the least demand on the drive team and require minimal maintenance,” said team mentor Jonathan Amory, an engineering teacher at Baxter Academy.

Erin Whitney and Tristram Howard, both from South Portland, have leadership roles on the robotics team at the Baxter Academy for Technology and Science. Howard is pictured third from the left in the first row, right behind Whitney, who is holding the team’s recent trophies.Courtesy photo