AUBURN — Auburn Middle School’s four-person Odyssey of the Mind team took third place in Division III in recent statewide competition.

Team members were Ezra Thomas, Harley Lombard, Matt Grenier and Cam Hutchins under the direction of coach Angela Campbell. The team was the only one from Auburn that participated.

During the March 24 competition in Wells, the middle school team offered a successful solution to their chosen problem, Ooh-Motional Vehicle. They created a theme for their eight-minute presentation that incorporated the vehicle and different emotions.

The emphases are on the technical risk-taking and creativity of the vehicle’s engineering for travel and change. The problem required teams to design, build and drive a vehicle to travel a course where it encountered three different situations.

“We started with a skateboard and we ended up with a police car on plywood, which was artistic!” Hutchins said in a press release. Grenier added, “It was a once in a lifetime experience!” while Lombard described as “fun, nerve-wrecking,” though he worried about the battery wearing out.

Thomas, who was instrumental in the engineering of the vehicle, said students had many meetings and the project took a lot of time. “We had to design the sides to make them look realistic. Engineering the wheel base was challenging; the wheel had to turn freely in order to hold onto the car with nuts, bolts and a half-inch.” The back wheels were from a trash can, the front wheels were from a skateboard.