May 31. By Dave Vieser. Two teams from Cornelius schools captured national honors in May: Horsepower Motorsports, Bailey Middle School’s National STEM League competition team, took several honors at the National Championships in Miami, and an Odyssey of the Mind team from Cornelius Elementary School finished in the top 10 during the World Finals held in Ames, Iowa.

STEM stands for Southern Topless Economy Modifieds, a competition where students design, modify and race scaled down electric radio-controlled vehicles to perform on road, oval and drag courses. Bailey’s team, which started in 2013, has amassed an impressive series of accomplishments in their short existence.

In this year’s finals, they brought back trophies from the National competition in first place in Community Outreach and Team Presentation, second place in Graphic Design and Race Events, and third place in Data Driven Design.

Meanwhile, some 1,600 miles away, an Odyssey of the Mind team from Cornelius Elementary placed eighth among 43 teams in the world finals on the subject of Fins, Furs. Feathers and Friends.

Odyssey of the Mind is a problem-solving competition involving students from kindergarten through college. Team members work together to solve a predefined problem and present their solution to the problem at an organized competition.