By TANNER MAWHIRTER
Tiger Media Network
On October 8, Hays hosted the annual Fall ElectroRally event where high school teams from all over the state and region raced their student-made electric vehicles in an hour-long most-laps-completed contest.
“The goal of this race is to do as many laps within one hour; most laps win,” said Adam Moritz, an FHSU alum and ElectroRally coach at St. John High School. “The best cars will do about maybe 68 laps in an hour, so they’re running 55-53-second laps. I think the best part is kids get to be out here and have fun, be safe, of course, but have fun and do the best we can.”
While racing a student-made vehicle might sound fun to most, there are actually a lot of dangers and effort involved in each vehicle that races. Ayden Lewis, a student from Scott City, talks about how much time and effort their team put into a single car.
“This green one here is the one we’ve done the quickest work on; we got it done in a year, starting our freshman year in 2024,” Lewis said. “It’s just non-stop work; you’re always tweaking something. You’re always checking your bolts and stuff.”
Russell Kern, a student from Ellinwood, said they usually have three or four races a year.
The drivers of each team getting their electric engines ready for an hour long race 
The 1st place Scott city team and their great racer which set a new record in Hays with 71 laps 
The second place St. John team gathering around their driver Makennon Sanders who completed 64 laps 
The most dedicated team at the event E.C. which came up all the way from Texas to complete 59 laps 
The Scott city team with their other vehicle which did not place but earned an honorable mention with 60 laps completed 
A ElectroRally guide pointing the cars around the sharp corners 
A long line of racers, some broken down, others still zooming 
The Great Bend teams driver and mechanic making sure the car is ready for the race 
The St. John team and driver ready to take on the track 
Scott City and their many cars they have entering the rally 
The Ellinwood mechanics working on their race car 
The St. John team working on their car to keep it running throughout the race
“This race is the first race of the year,” he said. “We usually have three or four more in the spring, so this is the test race and if something goes wrong, we’ll spend the few months we have to fix it up.”
Driving can be dangerous, especially with drivers who are inexperienced or driving on unsafe road conditions. These are some of the factors the drivers from St. John noticed.
“It was a little scary, came close a few times and rubbed a few people, but it was fun, fast, and a little scary. Every once in a while, you got one car coming up on you and tapping you in the back a little bit, but it makes it fun,” Makennon Sanders said. “Tracks a little rough, could definitely use a little work in some spots. Lots of bumps, lots of holes, but overall pretty good.”
Jackson Mawhirter also offers his advice as a driver on the scary conditions he has to navigate.
“The most important thing as a driver is to make sure you don’t get scared of corners and people, and make sure you stay tight or you lose,” he said.
To make sure the drivers are aware of any hazards or issues on the track or with their vehicles, each team is connected to other crew members who are watching from the sides of the track, communicating via walkie-talkies or earpods.
Mikeal Nemec from St. John explains his job as a warner/timekeeper.
“I can listen to the driver/pilot, and we can usually tell them what to do or warn them of a crash that’s ahead or anything like that with earpods,” he said.
Nemec has other jobs as well.
“To just write down their times and laps,” Nemec said. “Mostly sit and watch while our other teammates walk around to make sure none of our guys are going to crash.”
At the end of the event, Scott City placed first with 71 laps and St. John placed second with 64 laps. Other teams, like Ellinwood and cars from Scott City, did not place but earned honorable mentions for their laps in the first round.