2026 HS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
February 2026
As the sun had started to rise, teams 359B and 359C arrived at Kapolei Army National Guard, ready for the state championship! After unpacking their crates and organizing their pit stations, they got straight to the practice fields, preparing to fight til the end in this intense state tournament!
ALLIANCE SELECTION & PLAYOFFS
As qualification matches ended, playoffs had begun. To start playoffs, teams must choose their alliance partner. Since 359C had ranked 8th, they had the chance to be alliance captains. With their scouting and viewing of matches, 359C had decided to pair with 2459C. 359B had been chosen by 58964A, which 359B graciously accepted. 359C went through the same problem as the first match in round of 16, and became unreliable on descoring. That issue cost them the match, eliminating them from the playoffs with a final score of 85-9, but that wasn’t the end for them! To end 359C’s push back season, they were awarded the judges award for their powerful interviews they did with judges to go into more detail about their robot design, programming, and notebook. 359B didn’t have their best performance with their round of 16 score being 80-8, but they still tried their hardest even when things didn’t go their way.
Firstly, we want to give much appreciation to the mentors that gave us the support and help throughout this whole season. Without them, we wouldn’t have made it this far. Although teams 359B and 359C didn’t advance to worlds, we still congratulate them that they made it into the state championship! As this season comes to a close, a new one will arrive. We reflect on what has happened to make next season even better. We can’t wait for what's in store for us next season!
INTENSE MATCHES
From all over the state of Hawaii, 32 very hardworking teams qualified and came to this state championship, in hopes of advancing to the world championship! As soon as match schedules were released, teams scattered across the area, finding their alliance partners to strategize and ask questions about the robot. In the first match of the day, team 359C paired with 2443D as they went against 3685A and 58964A. Unexpectedly, 359C had a robot malfunction as its mechanism to descore blocks had broken. Because of that, they unfortunately lost that match with a score of 22-64. Team 359B on the other hand started off strong. As they fastly scored blocks, defended, and parked, 359B took the win alongside their partner 1037C with a score of 72-34. In the end, 359B ranked 27th, with a score of 1-8-0. 359C had ended with a score of 6-3-0, ranking 8th. Now, it’s time for the playoffs!
LOOKING AHEAD
Check out our other VEX Competitions!