Lightning Robotics Wins FIRST Festival Of Champions Title

CANTON, MI — A Plymouth-Canton Community Schools robotics team has won the inaugural FIRST Festival of Champions in Manchester, New Hampshire. Lightning Robotics Team 862 captured the title on Sunday. The Lightning beat six other champion squads from around the country.

FIRST robotics competitions actually started in the New Hampshire city more than 25 years ago, according to their website. The Lightning scored a record 588 points in a “STEAMworks” game to win the title. It was a best three out of five competition.

Teams from Kalamazoo, California, New Jersey, Georgia and Arizona also competed. The Lighting, meanwhile, contains more than 100 students from Plymouth, Salem and Canton high schools. The team has competing for about 15 years and raises funds for cancer at Relay for Life and demonstrate at the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival, according to the team website.

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Photo courtesy of the Plymouth Canton Community Schools.