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Just wanted to recognize all of the MAR teams that competed at champs last weekend. You all played excellent and showed the world that MAR is rising to the level of places like Michigan. Here's my thoughts about those who represented MAR in the eliminations:

Newton

Of course I have to start with team 303. After three district events and the district championship, in which Test had difficulty making it farther than the semis (or the quarters in the case of the later two events), 303 ramped up their game tremendously, and with an excellent alliance, earned their way to Einstein.

Joining them was team 1640, two time champion of MAR as the perfect second round pick in both 2012 and 2013. After perfecting their 30 climb, this swerving robot was quite a sight to see, and was, once again, the perfect second pick. MAR was represented very well on FIRST's biggest stage

While their season may not be at quite the level it was last year, 341 Miss Daisy still won an impressive two district events. Despite not competing at the MAR Championships, they continue to be one of the powerhouses of MAR, and I had no doubt that the alliance of 341, 68, and 2826 would be a force to be reckoned with.

While many pure cyclers from MAR competed at nationals, most were hard pressed to make it into elims simply due to the competitiveness of the game and the importance of team compositions. However, 1676 was the right pick for 128 and 195, and performed awesome. While they were just unable to pull out a victory in their rematch with 303, after defeating them in the semis at Mount Olive, the Pi-oneers still recorded an impressive season with both a district win and an EI

As far as full court shooters go, team 225 Tech Fire was one of the most impressive, getting a district win with their deadly accuracy. They continued to perform great at both MAR champs and worlds, and were definitely one of the best teams in MAR this year.

Archimedes

Team Nemesis 2590 had an explosive season, rising to a whole new level, becoming a MAR powerhouse, winning two events and a chairman's. They did not disappoint at champs, either, being one of the top picks, as an elite, ground loader machine. While their season ended sooner than they had hoped, I have no doubt they'll continue to be one of the top teams in both MAR and FRC as they move forward.

Another team that had a similarly explosive season was team 11 MORT. After a pretty long drought, team 11 was able to pick up both a regional win and district win, as well as a chairman's award. Like Nemesis, they were one of the top tier teams in MAR this year. To be honest, I thought that the alliance of MORT,Cheesy Poofs, and Appreciate had the potential to go all the way this year, and despite losing with a score of 216 points to the eventual Einstein finalists, this alliance was one of many that was interchangeable with those that competed on Einstein.

While 365 was among the ground loaders who did not attend MAR champs this year, MOE had an impressive run over in Archimedes, with their tall, ground loading machine. They too put up an impressive game against the eventual World Finalists.

Curie

Of the four MAR teams on Curie, only team 103 was able to clinch a spot in the elims, due to their ground loading capability. They were another great robot that simply got outscored by the eventual Curie champions in a fierce match up.

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Aside from these teams, MAR was well represented by Teams 25, 222, 293, 316, 321, 433, 1218, 1923, 2016, 2729, 3314, as well as the rookies: 193 and 4637. I have no doubt MAR will certainly be exciting as we move into 2014