Gladius
Team 26089. Inspire Award winners, bound for the World Championship.
Gladius is River City Robotics’ second-year FTC team, made up of students in grades 8 to 10. In a breakout 2025-26 season they won the Inspire Award, the top honour in FIRST Tech Challenge, and competed at the FIRST World Championship in Houston as one of only 14 teams from across Canada.
They compete in Alberta’s Inukshuk league and build their robot for the DECODE game from the ground up: design, fabrication, code, and the community outreach that is core to who they are.
Roster
| Member | Role |
|---|---|
| Sam Kraiger | Programming |
| Jack Rehill | Design |
| Walter Hrudey | Build |
| Tavin Mitchell | Build |
| Luke Meier | Community outreach |
Coaches: Kevin Kraiger, Shawn Rehill, and Angela Meier.
2025-26 season
| Event | Result |
|---|---|
| Fur Pelt Meet 1 (Nov 2025) | 5-1, ranked 1st of 21 |
| Fur Pelt Meet 2A (Dec 2025) | 3-2, ranked 3rd of 21 |
| Inukshuk Interleague Tournament (Jan 2026) | Inspire Award and Winning Alliance, ranked 2nd of 31 |
| Alberta Championship (Feb/Mar 2026) | 5-3 in quals, then won the playoff finals (Winning Alliance) to earn their World Championship spot |
| FIRST World Championship, Edison Division (Apr/May 2026) | Won the Gracious Professionalism Award; one of only 14 Canadian teams to qualify, and won 4 matches in Houston |
Winning the Inspire Award as a second-year team is a standout result; it is FIRST Tech Challenge’s most prestigious award. Gladius carried that momentum to the Alberta Championship, where their alliance won the playoff finals to earn a berth at the FIRST World Championship in Houston, as one of only 14 teams from across Canada and one of roughly 336 worldwide to make it that far. In Houston they were honoured with the Gracious Professionalism Award, FIRST’s recognition of teams that compete with kindness, respect, and integrity, which is exactly what River City Robotics stands for.
At the World Championship
