A rookie team from Radford High School partnered with two experienced Mainland groups yesterday to win the FIRST in Hawai'i Regional Robotics Competition at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

The Radford team, together for less than a year, advances to the national championship in Atlanta, Ga. Two other teams, Honoka'a and Waialua high schools, also qualified yesterday to move on to the championships April 17 to 19, along with three Hawai'i schools that had qualified previously.

Radford students joined veterans from Cocoa Beach, Fla., and San Jose, Calif., to defeat an alliance of three Hawai'i high schools in the final round of competition, in which students maneuvered remote-controlled robots through a course requiring speed and dexterity.

"The key was staying calm before and during the competition," said Brian Boado, a Radford sophomore who drove a robot for the winning alliance.

About 1,500 fans and spectators watched the final day of competition, which included 37 teams from Hawai'i and the Mainland.