[George Nishimura]

Needless to say, the Griffins had an incredible time this weekend. As well as our first ever blue banner, we had a fun and fantastic time in New York meeting a whole bunch of new people!

Firstly, we would like to thank our alliance partners 334 and 4039. With all our mechanical problems on Saturday and neutering our shooter to focus on assists, we are so grateful that two of the best teams at the regional still decided to pick us. We spent the weekend next to 4039 in the pits and we know first hand what an amazing group of people they are, and what a beautifully engineered robot they have built. We were happy and honoured to have the opportunity to help both teams earn their much-deserved first regional win!

Congratulations to 353 for their well-deserved Chairman's Award, 597 for Engineering Inspiration and 5123 for Rookie Inspiration. Hopefully we will see you all in St. Louis! Shout out to 810, sitting in the stands behind them it was incredible how spirited they were throughout the weekend, and they really led the way for a great atmosphere in the Javits.

It is a testament to the great work done by the volunteers, the referees and the rest of the teams that the level of competition was high and well-spirited. Everyone seemed to play the game with the right attitude, and it's clear everyone worked hard to make sure everyone had a great weekend.

Finally, we would like to extend a special thank you to the judging panel of the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award. We know that at every regional, there are scores of mentors who deserve to get recognition for their hard work. But having been taught by, mentored by and worked alongside Mr. McCarty, we see everyday the amount of tireless effort and dedication he puts in to promoting FIRST and STEM in our school and community. He shies away from the spotlight, but we are absolutely over the moon that he finally got his time in it.