The Park Robotics team’s season came to an end after losing in the semifinals of the state robotics tournament.

Sophomore Isaac Swartz, one of the team’s drivers of their robot, considered the robotics team’s philosophy of the season as a simple phrase.

“Keep it simple yet functional,” Swartz said.

Swartz said the robot built by the team represented the team’s philosophy and its strengths as a whole.

“Strengths are scoring points, we have a robot that is very functional, it’s not complicated, but it really works,” Swartz said.

According to Robotics advisor Trevor Paulson, the team’s success was very rewarding for the club following a year of hard work and determination.

“Very excited, very happy we made it that far. It’s the best we have ever done thus far, since we started back in 2009,” Paulson said.

Swartz credited part of the team’s success to their preparation throughout the season. He said in addition to upgraded the robot’s systems, the team practiced several scenarios ahead of the tournament.

“We have done a lot of practicing driving, a lot of problem solving. (Like) if we break the bumpers, we have to fix them,” Swartz said.

Paulson said that the team’s performance in the state tournament was not only a highlight of the season, but a major accomplishment in comparison to past years.

“We’ve scored probably the most points in our qualifying matches that we probably have combined throughout the rest of the years,” Paulson said. “And then being selected at the last second to go into the next bracket, the next level, was a huge accomplishment to the driver and the robot and how it did.”

According to Paulson, he was impressed with the team’s growth throughout the year leading up to the state tournament.

“We were able to do what we were supposed to do and did it very well,” Paulson said.

Paulson said as he looks forward to next year’s season, the progress shown by the current team leads him to feel optimistic about improving to reach their ultimate goal.

“We are getting closer to achieving our main goal of moving on to the semi-finals,” Paulson said.