The Kinkaid Robotics team, known as the Falconeers, took their talents down to Grand Oaks High School to compete in VEX’s “New Year, New Drive” event on Feb. 26.
The Falconeers placed third, earned the Excellence Award and qualified for the VEX V5RC High School TX Region 3 Championships, which were held at Clear Falls High School.
At regionals, the Falconeers faced some of the strongest teams in Texas. Matches were fast-paced and competitive, requiring quick thinking, teamwork and consistent robot performance. The team worked closely during each round to adjust strategies and fix issues between matches, which helped them stay competitive throughout the event.
Freshman Olivia Overman shared her personal experience.
“I think we worked really well together throughout the long day and had a solid overall performance,” she said. “The development of our robot and team-building skills really showed throughout the rounds.”
The Falconeers finished 19th out of 60 teams in an attempt to qualify for Worlds. However, due to a late loss, the Falconeers just missed the cutoff.
“I feel some disappointment that we did not qualify,” Overman expressed. “However, I am proud of our performance considering that most of us are young.”
Freshman Lucas Jiang shared a similar perspective.
“Even though our performance was not the greatest, it was still better than expected,” he said.
Regionals gave the team valuable experience and showed how much they have grown over the season. Competing at this level challenged the team and motivated them to continue improving their robot and skills for future competitions.
“We can grow by building on existing momentum to recruit more people and try to push for an early-season state qualification,” Jiang said. “We are motivated because we see a lot of progress and success from our work put in.”
Freshman Ruhaan Talreja said he felt motivated after the result.
“After seeing the competition, I feel motivated because I want to qualify for worlds, and to not only work harder but also be more involved with the building and the code,” he said.
In the end, this achievement marked an important milestone for the team and highlighted the growing strength of Kinkaid’s robotics program.
