In most competitions, a middle school team wouldn’t stand a chance against a high school team.

The Martin Middle School robotics team traveled to Auburn earlier this month for the South’s Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology (BEST) robotics championship and more than leveled that field.

Martin’s team won the middle school award for best robot and beat plenty of high school teams at Auburn’s Beard-Eaves Memorial Stadium Sunday. Martin’s robots placed 19th out of 55 teams

“All the hard work and time that had been put in getting prepared for the competition has really paid off,” said Martin robotics team sponsor Gaylen Denson.

Last year, Martin finished 18th overall but placed second among middle schools. This year, during the two days the kids ran their robots, adults were unable to help at all. Denson said his team showed a lot of responsibility and maturity in getting the job done by themselves. The team qualified for the South’s BEST regional championship on Oct. 22 at the Selma BEST Robotics competition. Morgan Academy also qualified for the regional competition.

Denson said his team has come a long way this season and gained a lot from the experience, including problem solving skills and putting in a lot of time and preparation and seeing the rewards.

“They learned a lot about the general robotics program and what it takes to compete,” Denson said.

The robotics team wasn’t the only one winning awards at Auburn last weekend for Martin. There were individual honors too.

Mar’Trel Chappell won the second place award for Best Team Mascot with his dance moves in the Bulldogs costume.

“All the mascots went down on the floor and they turned up the music and let them dance,” Denson said.

Denson said he’s been working with many of the students on the robotics team, which is made up of 35 members, for a couple years.

“They put in a lot of time,” Denson said. “It’s a good group. I’ve had some of them a couple of years now, and I lean on them a lot to lead the team and do the right thing.”

Denson said that some elementary students are learning robotics, and some of those students will be attending Martin Middle in the coming years. Therefore, he expects to be competitive for years to come. Denson did say, however, that he’ll have to watch out for his current team members when they reach the high school level and he’s coaching against them.

“It’s all in fun,” Denson said. “They’re learning a lot. And that’s what BEST is about. — is trying to get them involved toward the engineering and robotics fields.”