[SharonO]

Up Next had such a great time playing at the Central Illinois Regional for the second time. The competition here was intense. So many more high goal shooters from the start than we faced just a week ago in Kansas City. By the time Saturday afternoon rolled in, these teams had their shooters dialed in. Also, many more climbers in Illinois. The only way we were able to stay competitive was to run fast cycle times to weaken the tower for capture.

2481 once again has built an amazing machine. Undefeated, and NOT a low-bar robot. Their alliance partners 876 and 2220 were a tough group of robots. Congratulations also to RAS winner- 5822, EI winner- 2081, and Chairman's Award winner- 2220. (yep, there was a definite blooper on the wild-card announcement) We wish you all the best of luck in St. Louis.

Many thanks to our #4 alliance captain- 1625 Winnovation. It was great sharing the same field with you (along with the same hotel). Some awesome defense was played by the 3rd member of our alliance- 4212 Techno Ferrets.

We are sad that our Stronghold season is now finished, but we wish all of the CIR teams that still have competitions ahead of them the best of luck! Chief Delphi, if you are competing against any of these teams in the coming weeks, watch out!