By Jacelyn Hamamoto

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After earning the title of state champion at the VEX Robotics competition held at Kamehameha Maui High School on Jan. 10, Team 1973A has gained a spot in the world championships. Joining them will be Team 1973B, who were state finalists. The other two teams that competed, although they entered the elimination round of the competition, did not advance further.

“The work you put in is worth it, because you get to have fun while you’re there. It’s hard work but you can also have fun while you’re at it,” said Senior Gene Navarro.

The creative design process was very rigorous, as they scouted out different ideas until they found what they wanted. “We brainstorm what design we want, it’s basically the whole engineering process,” said 1973A Captain Senior Alex Noveloso. “So we brainstorm what we want, then narrow it down to what we exactly want to build, then we (start) prototyping, then from there we just make changes until we get what we want.”

Many students are involved in the program which helped balance a competitive and friendly atmosphere to push each other forward. “We have a slight advantage because we’re kind of large in a sense compared to the other schools and, you know, we compete with each other numerous times and competing in friendly competition helps us grow,” said VEX Robotics Advisor Timothy Pregana.

As Noveloso took charge to be the captain of 1973A, he experienced personal growth and leadership. “You get to step up and be a leader. It’s been a good experience because I got to learn how to lead a team, to really take charge of my responsibility of the things that need to be done,” said Noveloso.

After being encouraged by Pregana to work at outdoing themselves, the teams stepped into the state competition confident and determined to do their best. “You gotta be doing it better than everyone else. More efficiently, more programming, better strategy, better build robot.” said Pregana. “We definitely go in there prepared, and we do our best at each one so it usually turns out well,” said Noveloso.

Their confidence earned them the top spot. “I think it all came down to how well your robot (was) programmed and how you built it,” said Noveloso. “The reason why my robot stood out was because everything basically worked at the tournament. We didn’t really have many problems with things falling apart or not working.”

When the results were announced, Team 1973A was shocked. “It was a surprise, because you can’t always expect to win all the games but like we worked hard and we expected to win, not expected to lose. It was expected, but not guaranteed,” said Navarro.

Pregana couldn’t be more proud of his students for winning states. “You want to push your kids to excellence, but you don’t want to be a nag. Be positive, (encouraging) and just say that, you know, I tell my kids, ‘if you don’t do it right the first time, when are you gonna have the time to do it? The second time,’” said Pregana.

Other 1973 VEX teams are supportive of their two brethren teams advancing into the world championships. The upcoming tournament is to be held in late April.