Congratulations to Braeden '26 and Ereyn '24 of #Team29322A for an amazing end to the VEX IQ regular season tournament over the previous weekend. They were in first place throughout their qualification matches (10) and ended up with the Skills Champion Award (top team in skills) and the Teamwork Award (awarded to the top alliance in the finals, with alliance partner Gus Webling Elementary School).

The team earned the last berth to the VEX IQ State Championships with a Robot Skills world-wide ranking of #13.

On Monday, Feb. 20, two Mid-Pacific teams competed at the State VEX IQ Tournament held at the Hawai'i Convention Center. More than 75 teams from across the state competed with 37 middle school teams and 40 elementary school teams. At stake were 23 slots to the April VEX IQ World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Mid-Pacific Elementary School #Team29322A (Ereyn and Braeden) finished qualification rounds in sixth place and were paired up with team 1234B in the finals. They scored 63 points in a tie with the eventual second place winner. Since they were the lower seed, they lost the tiebreaker and finished in third place. In the Robot Skills part of the competition they ended up in second place. They had the same high scores as the eventual first place team, but due to the scoring algorithm--and lack of subsequent attempts--they finished second.

At the middle school level, #Team2932B (Shayna, Yoran, and Tyler) ended the qualification rounds in third place and entered the finals paired with team 434N. They scored 67 in the finals earning a third-place finish. In the Robot Skills part of the competition, the middle school team ended up ranked fifth.

At the Awards ceremony, both teams were awarded invitations to the World Championships. The teams will be traveling to Kentucky to compete with more than 1000 teams and from 30 countries in the largest robotics competition in the world.

Since January, the students have practiced all week and then all-day on Saturdays. "Their countless hours of hard work paid off," said Chief Innovation Officer Brian Dote.

The members of the middle school team mentored and coached elementary team all the way, attending all of their practices. "It's great to see the middle school robotics students taking a keen interest in the success of their fellow students and taking on the responsibility of helping mentor their younger classmates," Dote said. "It takes a community to be successful at robotics and fortunately we have a wonderful community supporting us every step of the way. None of this would be possible without the time, resources, sacrifices, and commitment from our parents, and, of course, coach Tyron and coach Bailey."