In their fourth competition since the beginning of their season in September, U-High’s three ninth grade Robotics teams received several awards for their performance at the Chicago League Tournament B, a First Tech Challenge regional competition on Feb. 21, as well as advancement to the state level for two. This was the first year that U-High has split its ninth grade robotics members into three separate groups competing in a different division.

“It was fantastic to see, as rookies, that they were able to do so well,” Darren Fuller, a middle school science teacher and the robotics club coach, said.

The three ninth grade teams representing U-High in the tournament included CTRL Freaks, We Byte and Code Blooded. The three team awards included the Control Award to CTRL Freaks for their use of sensors, software and data; the Innovative Award to Code Blooded for unique design and problem solving; and the Judges’ Choice Award to We Byte for a well-rounded team. CTRL Freaks and We Byte will be advancing to the state level.

Ninth grader David Xie described the team’s trajectory and swift improvement throughout the season.

“We started the season losing 6-4, but by the end we were winning 10-0, which eventually led us to state,” David said.

Ninth grader Colin Tian emphasized the hard work and perseverance that it took to bring the team through the competition and achieve their high performance.

“After losing a few matches during qualifications, we almost gave up,” Colin said. “But we got to state despite our struggles, which felt really rewarding after the work we had put in.”