The Aurora Tournament, oh how we love thee. The largest gathering of Open class robots in the state has more to offer than just competition. On Feb. 1, Cross County showed up with 7 teams to compete with 48 others and enjoy displays from area businesses and colleges. The displays were not just any displays but featured manufacturing robots, drones, VR, apps, tons of tech to brighten the eyes of students and their families. Cross County came into the competition ready to go taking 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 10th, and 17th in the skills competition. Team C5155A was not surprised to be in the lead but they sure surprised the crowd with an 82 point combined skills score. This is a new team record and state record. Team C5155Z (a team of two 7th graders) hit more points then they ever have and took 3rd with 28 points. In qualifications, Cross County lead the competition ending up ranked 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 13, and 25. Breaking into his first number one ranking was Preston Pinkelman, the lone member of C5155B, who had a solid performance in all of his matches. Another impressive run was from the middle school team C5155X who ended up 8th. In the tournament, Team C5155B chose C5155A and was the team to beat. Team C5155E, who was ranked 3rd chose another CC team C5155R to form another formidable alliance. In the end, Teams C5155B and A played the Men in Black 5 team from Millard West and Holdredge, who capitalized on early errors from Cross County to edge them out 25-24. Although suffering defeat, both teams qualify for the Nebraska State Open Tournament Feb 29 in Columbus. Team C5155A went on to be crowned the team of the tournament by winning the Honor Award.