Fordell School force to be reckoned with in the Whanganui/Manawatu EPro8 Challenge

The victorious Fordell Forces, (from left to right) Blake Sollitt, Catie McGregor; Hamish Cranstone and Anya Sewell. Photo / Supplied

It took a tense tiebreaker, but the Fordell Forces built the tallest self-standing structure to win the Whanganui/Manawatu grand final of the EPro8 Challenge last week.

At the end of regulation time, the team from Fordell School was equal on points with Palmerston North's College Street Normal School in the Year five and six category.

Karen Sewell was at Monrad Intermediate School in Palmerston North watching her daughter, Anya, compete.

"They had five minutes to make the tallest, self-standing structure that they could and that was extremely stressful," she said.

"Our team laid down a tyre and built a long pole that was about five metres high and we thought 'That's never going to stand up'. They stood it up and it fell over of course."

The team consisting of Blake Sollitt, Hamish Cranstone, Catie McGregor and Anya Sewell changed their tactics, building up tyres underneath and constructing more poles.

There was late drama when one member of the Fordell Forces dropped a screw to hold one of the poles in place and Ms Sewell said she thought the team was stuffed.

"But then they let it go and it stayed standing," she said. "Honestly, it was amazing, I keep reliving the moment because it was almost unbelievable what happened at the end."

It capped off a successful year in the inter-school engineering and problem solving race for the Forces.

They finished equal first with Kaitoke School in the Whanganui leg of the challenge to qualify for the grand final.

Ms Sewell's son, Angus, competed in the semifinals of the Year seven and eight category with the Fordell Thinkers, they finished seventh, missing out on the finals by one placing.

The semifinals started on April 9 and, throughout the event, the Fordell Forces completed challenges like building a stage for a rock band and building a bowling alley.

"It took them ages to do that," Ms Sewell said.

"When they won, our kids were so excited and they went straight over and shook hands with the other school's students, which I thought was just awesome."

For their win the Fordell Forces were awarded a trophy that they can keep.