Olivet Nazarene University, in coordination with Rich Township, recently hosted the 2024 VEX Robotics Illinois High School State Championship on March 22 and 23.

Located on the ONU Bourbonnais campus, the event brought together more than 150 talented teens and their mentors. These teams had already pre-qualified at the regional level and competed fiercely for the state title.

The VEX Robotics Competition, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation (REC), is a global program with more than 20,000 teams from 50 countries participating in over 1,700 competitions worldwide. Each year, students face an exciting engineering challenge in the form of a game. Guided by their teachers and mentors, they build innovative robots and compete throughout the year.

Cheered on by families and supporters, qualifiers not only showcased their technical prowess but also earned rankings in their respective areas. Illinois State Representative Jackie Haas (79^th District) was on hand to distribute the 2024 Vex Competition State Championship major awards. Winning teams will advance to the Vex World Championship later this year. A full list of winners can be found here.