[Alex2614]

I'd like to thank everyone for the generous words. We are all still recovering here at MARS, and we can't wait to see what happens in the future. We have been planning this event for more than a year, and I couldn't have been happier with the way it turned out.

I would like to thank WVU for all their generous support, even if they won't see it here. We approached them with the idea, not really expecting much, and they really went above and beyond. Not only did they provide arguably the nicest facility on campus, but they also provided four full-tuition scholarships to the winning alliance teams and the Earl Scime Award winner's team. The facility is incredible. I have never been to another FRC event with a track three stories above the field and pits, a climbing wall, and awesome swimming pool all open to participants. WVU even fed all the participants, mentors, and volunteers! All for a $100 entry fee! President Gee and the Mountaineer (late at night) even showed up. When the Mountaineer started up a match with his musket, it finally became a "real" Mountaineer event.

I was working at the scoring table, and I can attest that each and every person there, whether from AndyMark or those volunteering their time are some of the greatest in FIRST. We could not have had this event without their (literally) tireless dedication to the students at the event. While we all had a lot of fun, they really put the teams and students first, and on the technical side, everything ran flawlessly for 26 hours.

This was WVU's first experience with FRC, but also the first FRC event EVER to take place in the state of West Virginia. We have really opened some doors for the future of FIRST here, and I would like to thank each team for making that happen. But, because there were a lot of firsts here (no pun intended), we all knew going in that there would be some mishaps (like when WVU realized that the grandstands wouldn't fit through the doors... sorry about that everyone). We all knew that we would have to run the event with very inexperienced volunteers (even down to the reffing), but people still decided to compete here!! I am incredibly thankful that everyone was very understanding through the whole event, even in the elimination rounds. You truly helped us in a way that cannot be expressed. And, as Earl said in the opening ceremonies, the mentors at MARS will have a long "lessons learned" meeting to make sure that if we do this event again, it will be even better! Thanks to the whole FIRST community for being so great! Now we got to show our community how great FIRST is!