After hard work during their four month season, the St. Francis Xavier Robotics teams both qualified at Regionals to compete at the State First Lego League Robotics Tournament at ASU.  The Flaming Habaneros and the Lightning Pandas both performed very well in their research presentations, in their teamwork, and in the robotics competition. 
Each team scored more points at the robot missions than they have scored before, achieving second round high scores of 245 points. 
Because the Habaneros and the Pandas tied at 245, the nail-biting portion of the tournament came when they played each other in the afternoon single elimination playoff.
You would think that in a story like this there would be a winner and a loser, but both our teams acted like champions.  The Habaneros scored a few more points than the Pandas, but other successes came quickly.  Both teams were invited for second presentations on their research and their robot design – meaning that in these areas they finished in the top 1/8 of the tournament rankings.  The Flaming Habaneros received an award for innovative robot design, and both the Pandas and the Habaneros were complimented many times on their teamwork, ingenuity, and hard work.  These kids have been excellent ambassadors for our school.
Thanks to the community and the school staff and administration for your support, and thanks to these great kids for the dedication, spirit, learning, and fun. 

Flaming Habaneros - Winners of State and Regional Innovative Robot Design