If the stars align this weekend, a local robotics team may be headed to state competition in April.

Excel, a team comprised of Niles and Buchanan home-schoolers, won the district competition at Niles High School Saturday. The team also received the Excellence in Engineering Award, the only one handed out at the competition.

“The judges liked our design of the robot and the engineering,” said Brittney Miller, a senior and Excel member. “They also like that our members knew everything about it.”

Last weekend was the first time NHS hosted a FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competition as well as a team, named Fallout.

The Excel team, however, is not new to robotics. It started in 2008 and has qualified for state twice. Prior to forming a FIRST team, its Lego team competed at nationals.

Brittney said her team was No. 6 heading into the finals Saturday.

FIRST selects a new game to play each year, and this year it is Lego Motion, which consists of two competing alliances with three robots each that play on a flat field. They use their 120-pound robots to hang as many inflated plastic triangles, circles and squares on their grids as they can during a 2-minute 15-second match. The higher the teams hang their game pieces on their scoring grid, the more points their alliance receives.

When Excel advanced to the finals Saturday, another team had to pick it to join its alliance, and it was chosen by a Hopkins team. Then Excel had to choose one, and it selected the Wyoming team.

“Our alliance, we stayed together through the whole finals,” Brittney said.

To advance, teams had to win two of three matches in the quarterfinals, then semifinals, then finals.

The Excel team faced a challenge when the robot’s arm broke, and members only had about five minutes to repair it.

“It did make for a really great comeback story,” said Margo Miller, a parent and mentor for Excel.

Excel participated in two district competitions in Traverse City and at Grand Valley State University prior to Niles, and only the first two competitions a team competes in each year count toward points for state.

Therefore, Excel does not know for sure if it will be going April 7-9 to state at Western Michigan University.

“Meanwhile, we are fundraising and getting the robot ready,” Margo said.

The Excel team demonstrated Tuesday night its robot for potential donors at Lake Michigan College-Bertrand Crossing.

If it qualifies for state, Excel will need $4,000 just to enter the competition.

“Travel expenses have come from parents’ pockets,” Margo said.

To donate to the Excel team, checks can be mailed to Homeschoolers United, care of Lake Michigan College-Bertrand Crossing, 1905 Foundation Dr., Niles, MI 49120. Donations are tax-deductible.