Two robotics teams from The Dalles had to wait for an award ceremony to see if they would advance to the Oregon Championship or if their season would end Sunday at the super qualifiers level. Both received good news as the Bazinga Bots took one of three Inspire Awards and Sa-BOT-age was given the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award to move on to the state tournament Feb. 27-28 at Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland.

HOOD RIVER—Work done all the way back in July paid off Saturday for the Bazinga Bots. The Dalles robotics team won the Connect Award at the FIRST Tech Challenge Mid-Columbia and Central Oregon Championship, which went to the team that most connected with their local science, technology, engineering and math community.

The Bazinga Bots of The Dalles High School are one of 72 robotics teams from 12 states headed to the Western Regional Tournament March 27-29 in Oakland, Calif.