[KarenH]

After the awards ceremony, a special meeting was held to break the news to representatives from each team attending the regional, now the teams know.

Team 1366 went home and did not compete today. I presume they have arrived safely home by now. Their robot and equipment was packed into their crate for them, and will be shipped home.

Aside from this being such a horrible thing to happen, they were one of just two teams from outside California at our regional. The other outside team is from Chile. I sincerely hope they continue to enjoy their visit to beautiful seaside Long Beach.

We also had a robot catch fire during today's competition. Team 702's machine required the assistance of a fire extinguisher, and the match had to be stopped and replayed without them. They repaired their robot, renamed it Phoenix, and came back to play their later matches. Too much excitement today!

Most of all, condolences to our visitors from New Jersey.