This past weekend, while the varsity football squad fought its way to another CCS Championship, a different team was hard at work over 2000 miles away.

Last Thursday, eight Bellarmine students traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii to participate in the VEX Robotics Pan-Pacific Championship. The event, involving almost 90 teams from Hawaii, the West Coast, and China, is one of the largest robotics events in the world. Bellarmine entered three teams into the fray (254A, B, and C), with surprising results.

Team 254A seeded 2nd after qualification rounds, one of only two teams to go undefeated the entire tournament. Because of its high standing, it was in prime position to first pick Team 254C, then 254B – forming an all-Bellarmine alliance for the double elimination rounds. The trio went nearly undefeated on its way to the top, dropping only a single match when all three teams broke down completely. In the end though, the Bells managed to pull through, taking all three tournament titles in an unprecedented sweep. All in all, the team collected five trophies from the championship event, making it one of the most successful tournaments in Bellarmine Robotics history.

This latest victory marks 254A’s fifth tournament win this season, 254C’s third, and 254B’s first. Click here for a video of the first quarterfinal (Bellarmine is on the right; 254A starts in the foreground and 254C in the background).