Two Murchison VEX Robotics teams excelled at the CREATE U.S. Open Robotics Championships in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in early April. 

Both Matadors squads finished in the top 16 teams out of 93 middle school squads from around the world. 

The Murchison 8512F Team Cringeworthy won the Excellence Award, the competition's highest honor, which recognizes the best all-around team at the competition. 

"The team did an incredible job of collaborating and staying positive throughout the competition," robotics and design Teacher David Robinson said. "It was gratifying to watch their hard work pay off."

The Murchison Middle School robotics teams design, build, program and drive a robot that can solve the VEX Robotics challenge. This two-minute, competitive match consists of an autonomous-robot period and a driver-control period. 

"The students worked tirelessly to prepare for the U.S. national competition," Robinson said. "Parents set up a practice field at a nearby venue and students went to practice three to four times per week after school and on the weekends to improve their robots, programming and driving skills for the competition."