I'd say just keep it simple and have fun. As previous posters have said, even veteran teams can get tripped up shooting for the moon but ending up burning up on reentry. (sorry for the space simile). If you can pick one task to do and do it really well, that'll make you look good. Some teams that I saw this year didn't even drive -- they just climbed. That might be an extreme example, but the idea behind it is sound: make your robot as break-proof and as idiot-proof as possible.
Also (I have to say this as a Chairman's guy)-- do community outreach. It's the right thing to do, as well as looking great on your submission a few years down the road.
If you're interested, we have all sorts of resources on
our website.
Best of luck!