Robotics team 62B qualified for the VEX VRC High School State Championship after winning the VEX Robotics Tournament at Corona High School on Feb 9.

At the tournament, teams 62B, 62K and 62V competed against 40 other teams to complete tasks like stacking boxes and building towers with robots. Both teams 62B and 62K qualified for the elimination rounds. In addition to their win, team 62B, comprised of Justin Sun ’22, Peter Shen ’22, Jaydon Faal ’22 and Mateen Sharifi ’22, also won the tournament’s skill challenge. As a result of their performance, team 62B is now ranked 30th in California, Shen said.

“Our goal going into the tournament was to win the skills portion and qualify for state that way, but we were fortunate enough to have a great alliance for the elimination rounds,” Faal said. “Everything functioned properly, so we were ultimately able to win.”

Student describes the tournament

Sharifi said he found the tournament to be incredibly educational and enjoyed the process of trial and error.

“We not only wanted to win, but we also wanted to score high enough to qualify for [the] California State Finals,” Sharifi said. “We were able to accomplish both goals. My favorite part was being able to showcase the robot with my friends that we spent so much time on. This was actually my first tournament, as I am relatively new to robotics, so I learned so much about the way the tournaments were conducted themselves, as well as how important it is to work as a team.”

Robotics team member explains importance of robotics 

Sun said he enjoyed bonding with his team and is determined to improve his robotics skills even more as a result of the tournament.

“I learned just how great teamwork and collaboration is,” Sun said. “After this tournament, robotics has really become an addiction for me. Being a part of a team of fantastic people and a great community is an awesome feeling and the challenge to qualify for worlds is on.”