Though there were some speed bumps along the way, Liberty Christian High School's solar car team can now say it competed and finished in one of the biggest solar races in the world.
The team returned to Argyle last weekend after spending nearly a month in Australia competing in the World Solar Challenge.
Teams from across the globe raced from Darwin to Adelaide, Australia, using cars they created to run purely on solar power.
The race was made up of professional engineers, college and university teams from around the globe, and a small handful of high school teams, including Liberty Argyle.
"When we heard we were going to Australia, I'm like, 'Whoa!'" said Freshman Austin Hunt, the youngest competitor in the entire race.
The Liberty team raised funds and sponsorships for several years in order to make the trip and compete in the race.
It even required taking three weeks away from school, but the students had no breaks from class work.
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"They're doing homework every night, and the first week we were there they had to take midterm exams," said team advisor Brent Dragoo.
Several members event took their PSAT exams while in Australia at an all-girls Christian school along the way.
The team managed to do some sightseeing after the race was complete, but during the race they faced their share of obstacles.
At several points the Liberty car experienced mechanical issues that required the team to sit out a few legs of the race while the car recharged or so they could fix things.
The students said it wasn't about winning for them, though. They just wanted to finish, and they did.
On Oct. 23 the Liberty Christian car crossed the finish line running on the sun and driven by one of the students.
"We finished the race, and I never would have thought we'd have done that," said Hunt.
The team was also one of few American teams to participate in the challenge.
They plan to rest up for a few weeks before getting back to innovating on their car and preparing to compete in some of next year's American races.
