Despite a season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, four middle school robotics teams had a highly successful year in the VEX Robotics Competition. All four qualified for the California State Championships, which were scheduled for earlier this month before being canceled.

Eighth graders Zachary Blue, Sriram Bhimaraju and Jordan Labio were two-time tournament winners and twice won robot skills challenges, in which the team ranked in the top 20 worldwide. The team also received a Think Award for the quality of its robot’s programming. 

In their first year of competition, Angela Liu and Kaitlyn Su, both grade 7, won a pair of tournaments as well as a robot skills challenge and were finalists and semifinalists multiple times. Additionally, the team placed first in a VEX Silicon Valley Middle School League event. 

Eighth graders Ramit Goyal, Joe Li and Nathan Liu were winners at one high school tournament and twice reached the semifinals in other events. Their robot’s user interface earned them an Innovate Award.

Ella Yee and Julie Shi, both grade 8, also competed for the first time this year, winning one tournament and reaching the quarterfinals in two other events.