On Sunday, January 26, and Saturday, Feb 1, RCDS Middle School Robotics teams Wildcats 18693A, B and C competed in back-to-back VEX IQ Southern State Tournaments. After working diligently through the fall to design, build, innovate, and code, the teams were ready and eager for the exciting competitions. 

At the January contest at Huntington High School on Long Island, 37 teams gathered. At the end of match play, RCDS Team A ranked 9th, Team B 10th, and Team C 15th. Team A continued to the Finals, ending in 5th place. For the Skills portion, Team A, B, and C showed their autonomous coding and driving skills and ended ranked 8th, 19th, and 22nd respectively.

The following weekend at the South Bronx Charter School for International Culture & Arts, Team A held at #1 on the leaderboard during the duration of match play. Teams B and C ended the match play at 10th and 8th respectively. Teams A and C both qualified for final rounds, and Team A earned the highest score of the event at 70 points–a season-high for the Wildcats.

Team A also won the driving and autonomous skills with an impressive 112 points, an all-time high for the MS Robotics program. Team C placed second for skills at 44 points, and Team C ranked 4th with 33 points. 

One highlight of the event was encountering RCDS graduate and former Upper School Robotics team captain Sofia Rodriguez '22 who was the head referee. She was thrilled to present the RCDS’s Team A with the top award.

With these impressive performances in the rearview, all three teams have qualified for the State tournament on March 9.

Congratulations and good luck, Wildcats!