Coaches
Mark Zenk
High School Head Coach
26th Year at Mankato West
14th Season
Coach Zenk was the main advocator to start the Mankato West Robotics program thirteen years ago. He has been the coach since day one and enjoyed every minute. Coach Zenk has witnessed the program grow from one team of six students in year one to 9 teams with 30 students this season. Coach Zenk’s main goal of every season is to promote VEX Robotics to schools and the community all around MN. Coach Zenk also strives to run a quality regional tournament in Mankato at MSU Mankato every year and helps mentor other Event Partners to run their own tournaments. The goal for all the teams is to compete at a high level and reach the MN state tournament and qualify for the World Championships in St. Louis, MO.
Dave Luiken
Middle School Head Coach
7th Season as VEX Coach
2nd Season as Middle School Coach
Coach Dave has enjoyed coaching VEX Robotics in the Mankato area for seven seasons – five seasons in the VEX IQ program with 4th through 6th graders. He has also enjoyed the many other aspects of volunteering in different VEX tournaments including being the Event Partner for the first ever Mankato Match VEX IQ Tournament in February 2024. Coach Dave looks forward to teaching his teams the many valuable life skills that VEX offers – including problem solving skills, learning to work within a team, and the joy of celebrating hard work.
