399 had a great time at Inland Empire. It was a very short drive from our home and it was a very well organized and run event. This was may last regional competition as a student, and I have to say that I loved every minute of it. The best of CA and FIRST ran and competed at the event.
399 fought many silly technical issues(thankfully none of the gremlins from Sacramento decided to strike), but were overall happy with our performance.
Thanks to our elimination alliance partners, captain 1323 Madtown Robotics and 2nd pick 3647 Millennium Falcons. It was a pleasure talking with RC over the course of the build season and to get some insight into how a quality West Coast robot is built. Mark from 3647: glad you finally got to make eliminations in your last competition. You were an extremely aggressive driver and 3647's next driver has some large shoes to fill! Sound strategy and quality bots made this alliance a dream for us.
Thanks to our opponents in quarterfinals, 2493. Your aggressive defense driving was extremely good and going into the first match, we instantly knew it was going to be a huge threat. How right we were, with 2493 keeping us from a climb and another scoring cycle with an effective T-Bone.
Thanks and congrats to our opponents in the semifinals, 1538, 2485, 968. Three quality California robots, effective scoring and strategy, and consistent triple digit scores made these semifinals some of the most exciting matches I've ever played in. Check out our blue bumpers at STL and you'll see some battle scars from our bout with 2485
Congrats on the win guys!
Special thanks to everyone else. I know for sure that our underclassman members were quite inspired by the quality robots that IE fielded.
See you in St. Louis.