From March 27 to March 29, 2026, the Culver City High School Robotics Team 702 (aka Bagel Bytes) competed over the course of back-to-back 11-hour days at its second district tournament at Glendale High School, and rocked it!
Out of 37 teams, the team tied for fifth place. CCHS typically goes up against private school teams with significantly more financial resources that can afford to put six Limelight cameras on their robots (CCHS has two), include all the bells and whistles, and compete at a top tier level. Our team was right up there with them!
For the first time since 2012, the “Bagel Bytes” finished the qualifying rounds as an alliance team captain. This was a major accomplishment, as only eight teams get to pick their alliance partners at the end going into the semi-final rounds.
Usually, Team 702 is picked by another team, the equivalent of being a wildcard in football or baseball. This time, Team 702 finished high enough in the qualifying rounds to earn the position of captain of Alliance 6, picking their two partner teams (both of whom were NASA/JPL-sponsored teams like Team 702).
During the semi-finals, Alliance 6 lost its first match, won its second, and were eliminated with a close loss in their third match, resulting in a fifth-place finish overall.
So what’s next? The Bagel Bytes will not be competing in the next round of tournaments scheduled for this coming weekend. Team 702 is currently ranked 81st (out of 296 teams) in California. There are 120 slots available for District Championships on April 9-12, half in Northern California and the other 60 here in Southern California at the Anaheim Convention Center next weekend.
With its current ranking, there is a very solid chance that Team 702 will make it.
While the suspense is holding, the team won’t be sitting on its hands waiting to find out. Team members have already been back to work on campus this week, nearly every day of spring break for seven hours each day. Improving and refining their robot, fixing bugs in the code, replacing components, installing new batteries and parts, and testing like crazy.
Attitude is always a central component in competition, and as far as they’re concerned, they ARE going to Anaheim. But stay posted for updates; they will be notified soon.
Culver Pride/Photos and story by Robotics team parent and mentor Jonathan Lane
Additional text Judith Martin-Straw
