Catholic Central’s robotics program had an impressive showing this past weekend during a district competition at Woodhaven High School, with both teams delivering strong performances against a field of 40 teams.

The CC Shambytes, which consists of 17 students who are rookies in the FIRST Robotics Competition, competed with their robot “Hephaestus.” The team finished No. 2 out of 40 teams during the qualifying rounds with an 11–1 record, marking the highest finish for the Shambytes after qualification matches in program history.

The Shambytes were also complimented by the top-ranked team at the event for having the most consistently performing robot at the competition. Consistency is a critical factor in robotics when top teams select alliance partners for the elimination rounds. Building reliable, consistently performing robots has been a key goal of Catholic Central’s robotics program since its founding in 2016 and has contributed to the teams’ continued success.

Following the qualifying rounds, the Shambytes served as captains of the No. 2 alliance, selecting Team #7174 Charger Robotics from Crestwood High School and Team #5050 Cowtown Robotics from Airport High School as their partners. After winning their first match in the double-elimination tournament, the alliance lost the next two matches and was eliminated in the finals. The event also marked the highest-ranked alliance captaincy in Shambytes program history.

The CC Shambots, which consists of 29 veteran students, also had a strong weekend competing with their robot “Charless.” The team finished No. 4 out of 40 teams in the qualifying rounds with a 9–3 record.

The Shambots served as captains of the No. 3 alliance, selecting Team #3322 Eagle Evolution from Ann Arbor Skyline High School and Team #6914 Retro5ive from Melvindale High School as their partners. The alliance went 2–2 in the finals, finishing in fourth place overall.

In addition to their competition results, the Shambots received the Autonomous Award sponsored by Google, recognizing the software developed by the team’s programming group. It marks the first time the Shambots have received the Autonomous Award.

Because the competition ran throughout the day on both Saturday and Sunday, Catholic Central also arranged to have Mass celebrated in the school auditorium by Fr. Bob Schikora ’65 for the Catholic schools participating in the event. Students and mentors from Catholic Central, Bishop Foley, Divine Child, and Gabriel Richard Riverview attended the Mass, representing six robotics teams in total. Approximately 100 people participated in the celebration.