Tampa Prep's Upper & Middle School Robotics Teams competed February 19 & 20 at the VEX States Competition, under the direction of STEM Faculty KK Quah and came away big winners!
The Middle School team (727 Bale) made history for Tampa Prep as the very first Middle School VEX team to not only qualify, but to TRIPLE qualify for VEX Worlds, May 3 - 5 in Dallas, TX, with the following awards!
- Skills States Banner, currently ranked first in Florida
- Tournament Champions Banner with a dominating final score
- Excellence Award Banner, with trophy, as the overall "Best Robot" in North/Central Florida
Tampa Prep also had four Upper School Robotics Teams compete, with one team (727 Gold) moving on to VEX Worlds, May 5 - 7 in Dallas, TX!
Congratulations to all of these hard-working students, who exemplify teamwork, commitment and excellence, as well as their incredible leader, Mr. Quah.
Here is the complete re-cap of the teams and the competition:
727 Gold captained by Elise B. with members Alex L., Hailley S. & Kat G.
727 Red captained by Abby M. with members Ryan K., Daniel L., Maddie M. & Sharif C.
727 Crimson captained by Casey K. with members Nathan V., Calvin V. & Ben B.
727 Dark Red captained by Elissa D., with members Daphne T., Gabriel B. & Jack R.
All teams competed well with 727G ranked 14th, 727R ranked 15th, 727C ranked 19th, and 727D ranked 30th after qualification matches. 727Red and 727Crimson made it to the round of 16 with 727C finally losing in the quarterfinals. However, our story did not end there. Throughout the year we had attended 3 tournaments and 727 Gold, through their hard work, got a high score of 322 skill points (240 in driver skill and 82 in autonomous skills) which ranked them 13th in the State of FL.
And with 13 spots available this year for VEX Worlds, 727 Gold made it! For the second consecutive year, all Upper School teams made it into VEX States, and one team secured a spot for VEX Worlds.
The Middle School team, 727 Bale, is captained by Lauren B. with members Cedric T., Jai P., Davis S., Leela P., Adin S., Finn M. and Stone F. The Middle School team delivered 200 driver skill points, 80 autonomous skill points and an Engineering Notebook that was the envy of any team, with 28 handwritten pages with pictures.
Their record was 7-1-0, with a First Place ranking after qualifications matches.