Planning, coding, constructing. These are the fundamental aspects of building a robot, but according to the Xavier High School robotics team, the Xcentrics, what really makes a robot successful is teamwork.

This year, before competing in the League Championships, the Xcentrics won 21 out of 25 matches in five league meets. They ranked first place and were ahead of the second place team by over 240 points.

“Going into the league championship, we were in good shape,” Mrs. Stacy Mickelson, Xcentrics coach said. “The kids did awesome on January 5th in Denver, Iowa at their League Championship. We competed against 22 teams and finished second place.”

Along with getting second place, the Xcentrics won the Motivate Award for getting younger students interested in robotics and second place for the Inspire Award, the highest award a team can earn. Winning the Inspire Award qualified them for the Super Qualifier competition, and if they perform well there, they will advance to the state meet.

“It is amazing to look back and see all that we have accomplished so far this season,” senior Lauren Korbel said. “We have come a long way in our ability to work as a team, and it is exciting to watch our robot come together over the course of the last few months. I look forward to continuing to grow as a team, improving our robot and having another great competition.”

The Xcentrics competed at the Super Qualifier in Johnston, Iowa on February 2.