History was again made by the RoboNinjas at the 2015 VEX Robotics Indiana State Championship on March 7. PHS seniors Josh Kuhn and Kennedy Schnieders, comprising Team 5003-the RoboNinjas, entered the competition as defending 2013 and 2014 Indiana State Champions.
Qualifying rounds consisted of 70 matches amongst 40 teams, of which each team competed in 7. The RoboNinjas were determined to defend their title and played strong, showing other teams what they could do.
Entering Alliance Selection, they were the first pick of the 5th place team, a strong team from Cornerstone Robotics. Together they picked a fast scoring team for their 2ndselection, also from Cornerstone Robotics.
In the best of three tournament series, the RoboNinjas went three matches in their quarterfinal match, advancing out to the semi-finals. Semifinal action saw them match up against the number one seed, a heavy favorite to win. The RoboNinjas and their alliance members stunned them with a victory in the first match and were able to advance to the final round by doing it again, pulling off a narrow victory in the second match.
The RoboNinjas were determined to win as they had made it so close to a three-peat. But with their alliance member struggling in a portion of their match, they dropped the first match, meaning they would have to play their next two flawlessly. After some quick strategy with their partners, they did just that, pulling off two stunningly close victories and sealing their title of State Champions.
This gave the RoboNinjas an unprecedented third straight title as Indiana State Robotics Champions. The RoboNinjas collected a Tournament Champion trophy and an Indiana State Champions Banner. They also collected the trophy and banner for Design Award, an award given to the team whose robot demonstrates the best overall design.
