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Slippery Penguins robotics team wins second consecutive Cross Border Challenge

Published 8:30 am Wednesday, December 17, 2025

By Wire Service

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Left to right: Brian Kwon (lead code), Harry Nguyen (team captain) and Henry Xing (lead notebook). Not pictured, Til Wyss (builder). Photos courtesy of the Mercer Island School District

Special to the Reporter

The Mercer Island High School VEX Robotics team, the Slippery Penguins, took part in the 2025 VEX Robotics Cross Border Challenge Tournament on Dec. 13 at Bellingham High School.

The Cross Border Challenge brought together 62 top VEX robotics teams from Washington and British Columbia.

The Penguins excelled during the qualification rounds, winning six straight matches and securing the third seed alliance with the Canadian team, TenTon Robotics, from West Vancouver.

Slippery Penguins successfully advanced through three consecutive elimination matches to reach the final, where they ultimately defeated the opposing Washington alliance to claim the Cross Border Challenge Tournament trophy for the second straight year.

This victory has also earned the team an early invitation to the state championship in March.

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