[barn34]

What an amazing 2nd annual CIR event. Huge thanks to all the amazing volunteers who helped make the event run smooth as silk and kept everything an immensely enjoyable experience for all the great teams in attendance.

Big thanks go out to our amazing alliance partners from 1756 and 2220. It was great to finally get a chance to team up with our fellow local Caterpillar sponsored brethren in Argos. It's actually weird how little our paths have crossed over the years both being local teams. You've got a great robot this year and that intake serves you well at both field positions. Best of luck at Midwest in a few short weeks! 2220, you guys were great partners and played a great support role for our alliance. Your honesty in your confidence in your bin topping ability was honorable and your then earnest transition to join team tether and play RC guard dog, if needed, was inspiring. We will look forward to any opportunity we get to share the field with you guys in the future. Best of luck and we will see you again in St. Louis!

I also cannot say enough about all of our friends on the amazing finalist alliance from 2512, 4143, and 4212. Those finals matches were incredible and I'm pretty sure finals match 1 will go down as one of the most amazing matches of this entire season. A 66 point swing in the final seconds and the final point difference was only 5 when all litter was accounted for. Insane. Replays of that match need to be uploaded ASAP as that's proof that this game is capable of being exciting when played right. Great job to all of you and we look forward to seeing 2512 and 4143 in St. Louis.

Much deserved congratulations go out to our friends from 2039 on their chairman's victory. You guys are a great example of what this competition is all about and it's always an honor to see you guys at any event. We hopefully look forward to another great R2OC event this year and we will see you guys in St. Louis, as well.

I also want to give a shout out to 2 great rookie teams: 5442 and 5665.

5442, it was great to be a part of your first competition experience and your first ever qualification match. You carried yourselves like a veteran team and your much deserved rookie all star award is proof of that. We look forward to seeing you guys in St. Louis, and let us know if there's anything we can do to help that first trip to championships be as exciting as your first regional. Great job, guys!

5665, you guys are awesome! I don't think it's possible to comprehend how crazy of an experience this event must have been for you guys. 14 hours by plane all the way from Turkey, then several hours by bus from Chicago to Peoria. This would be a daunting task for even the most hardened competition veteran teams, and you guys are a true rookie inspiration! It was great to be able to share a pit border with you guys all weekend and it was a lot of fun to learn more about you guys at the team social on Friday. We hope to see you guys again and best of luck in all future competitions!