Clark Magnet High School Robotics team won the FIRST Robotics Fall Classic at Valencia High School in Placentia last Saturday. Out of 34 robots and 26 schools competing at the tournament Team 696 of Clark Magnet High School came out victorious over all other teams.

This year’s competition was called the Aerial Assault. According to the competition rules, “The objective is to score as many balls in goals as possible during a two (2)-minute and 30-second match.” Team 696 entered two robots in the competition; one was controlled by returning members and the other robot was controlled by newer members. There were five series of qualification rounds and the returning members’ robot was undefeated throughout all the rounds. “And the finals were just about the same story,” said Robotics Team Advisor David Black. “In the last game of the finals, we had five times the score of our opponents,” Black said.

The Fall Classic is usually a second chance for teams to play their robots after the Long Beach tournament held in spring. The robots they entered in the tournament were made last winter. Although Team 696 only made it into the semifinals of the Long Beach Tournament, some team members said that this win is a good stepping stone for next year’s competition. “Not to insult last year’s team, but I think we have a really good team this year that has great chemistry,” said junior Mika Stanghill.