CHS Robot

The Cigarroa High School Xtreme Robotics Club, represented by Team 8284 Soap Dispener Robotics team were state runners-up in the 5-A Division at this year’s 2023 UIL FTC Texas State UIL Robotics Championship. The team earned 2nd place and currently holds the Texas High Score of 293 points in a single match, and that 293 points is currently 2nd in the entire world for most points in a single match. 

The Soap Dispenser Robotics team went head-to-head with some of the biggest schools from across the state of Texas and did a tremendous job in representing their school, coaches, and families. 

Cigarroa High School student and lead programmer and driver Jorge Vasquez was happy to be back in the state tournament but is still not satisfied with the results. “It was great to be back at the state competition and place 2nd,” said Vasquez. “We are eager for next year’s brand-new competition, and we are already preparing for the upcoming season.”

The 2022-2023 FTC season game was POWERPLAY. The POWERPLAY challenge features game elements such as Cones, Junctions, Substations, and Terminals. At the start of the match, each robot begins against their alliance wall and can be pre-loaded with one cone. Once the match starts, teams race to score cones and create circuits during the 30 second autonomous period followed by the two-minute driver-controlled period. During the last 30 seconds of the match called the end game, teams continue to score cones and can cap a junction with a beacon and park in their alliance's terminal for extra points.

The team fought hard and persevered through many challenges throughout the year. Team 8284 Soap Dispener were the FTC Laredo Tesla League City champions and the Regional South Texas FTC Champions as well. 

The team continued to make history by making it to the UIL State Tournament in back-to-back years and their 2nd place UIL award. The team was led by coach/mentor Amanda De Hoyos who has been with the Robotics team for over 10 years and is one of the few female mentors in the entire state and Raymundo De Hoyos. 

According to De Hoyos the future is still bright for Team 8284 Soap Dispener. “All of the members are only sophomores and still have two years left. Their achievements would not have been possible with the support of their administration and local community members who helped them achieve this goal,” said De Hoyos. 

Members of Team 8284 Soap Dispener, who are also students at the Sabas Perez Early College High School, include Danya Ibarra, Jorge Vasquez, Cristian Luna, Mariah Rossel, Nathan Soriano, Keyla De Leon, and Briana Morales.