RVA area VEX robotics teams have continued their success at local tournaments. In all, seventeen teams from the area have qualified for and will be competing at the Virginia State Championship. Teams qualify for the Championship by winning specific awards at local tournaments held throughout the Commonwealth from November through February. Additionally, teams can also earn “wildcard” spots at the Championship through Robot Skills scores that they post throughout the season at official qualifying events. Seven of the RVA area teams earned automatic qualifying spots through award winning performances at local events, with the remaining ten teams earning berths based on their impressive Robot Skills score.
Since the inaugural year of the Virginia VEX Robotics State Championship, at least one division has been won by a team local to the RVA area. Some teams to watch this year include Synonyms of Awesome and Atlantis, both competing in the Middle School VEX IQ State Championship. Synonyms of Awesome currently holds the highest Robot Skills Challenge score in the World and Atlantis isn’t far behind at number nine. Synonyms of Awesome was the runner up at the State Championship last year and both Synonyms of Awesome and Atlantis have qualified for the World Championship in the past. Both teams have won Excellence awards and been overall teamwork champions at local events this season.
In the Elementary School VEX IQ State Championship, RoboRacers and ThinkRobots have the potential to win it all. While they are both new to VEX IQ this year, they both have Robot Skills scores in the top three in Virginia and RoboRacers has won the Excellence Award and been Teamwork Champions at local events this season. RoboKai is also a newcomer to VEX robotics and is competing in the Elementary School VEX IQ State Championship with three teams. Those teams are the most State Championship teams from any one RVA area organization and the most from any organization in the Commonwealth competing in the Elementary School division.
The three high school teams from the RVA area competing in the State Championship – Soaring Eagles, Tesla, and Xeon – all have the potential to make a strong run. Soaring Eagles is competing in high school for the first time, but they have a long history of success and have won the State Championship in their division for the last three years and are currently ranked number ten in Robot Skills in Virginia. Tesla is a local tournament Champion and has previously won the State Championship at the Middle School level and competed at the World Championship. Xeon, like Tesla, currently has a Robot Skills score in the top 15 in Virginia and has competed at the World Championship before.
The State Championships will be held on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7 at Meadow Event Park, 13191 Dawn Boulevard, Doswell, Virginia 23047. Come out and cheer on your local teams at the State Championship!
High School VEX VRC
- Automatic Qualifiers
- 737Z Midlothian Robotics Club – Tournament Champions
- 8086X Team Semiconductors – Robot Skills Champions
- 87471A Soaring Eagles – Robot Skills Champions
Middle School VEX IQ
- Automatic Qualifiers
- 50252A Robious Robotics (#1 skills in World) – Excellence Award, Teamwork Champions
- 28024A Atlantis (#9 skills in World) – Excellence Award, Teamwork Champions
- 95032T Robo-Turtles – Teamwork Champions
- Robot Skills Qualifiers
- 13015A, 13015D Short Pump Middle School
- 23059R Holman Middle School
- 57539A TechnoBuilders
- 70484A Pink Panda Dumplingz
Elementary School VEX IQ
- Automatic Qualifiers
- 36521A RoboRacers – Excellence Award, Teamwork Champions
- Robot Skills Qualifiers
- 369A Infinity
- 23113A, 23113C, 23113D RoboKai
- 47676A ThinkRobots
Great job to all and good luck at States!