[PayneTrain]

We're going to echo the shout out to Steve Shade. Our drive coach said he was just as good as, if not better than Aidan Browne. That's high praise. Please, everyone, go fill out feedback and let everyone know how great he was. We'll happily hoof it north of the Potomac all the time if we have to.

We are very thankful to have lost to the winning alliance of 1418, 836, and 5804.

1418 is the poster child for "get it done right, and get it done early." At the end of it all, we're still fiddling with a climber and they are holding up 3 banners. We never posted any videos publicly like they did, but we thought we had a blistering build pace until they started showing off their stuff.

836 is definitely what 422 thinks to be one of the crown jewels of the region. We are glad they are being recognized as a great program again this year after taking our direct strategic choices and grinding out a far better and more consistent seasonal performance with it.

5804 is going to be a real thorn in the side of anyone who wants to try to win an event while going up against them. They didn't win the rookie all-star but they are definitely the blue chip stock of the lot.

1086 is another one of the crown jewel programs in the region. It's great to see the region recognize them with another well earned Chairman's Award this year. Congrats to 384 and 1885 for their wins; I can tell you that we would have been shocked if it wasn't the three of y'all taking home that hardware.

346 is probably the most complete team we have ever played with away from the arch. They have the brains, they have the tools, and if the charter bus to a district event didn't make it obvious, they definitely have the manpower. One of these years we will win one of these coinflips together.

It's so awesome to see all of these great teams from the area shine now that the shackles of the regional system have been cast away, but we are really thrilled that 339, 1731, 4242, 1262, 5546, and 1137 are some of the programs that get to go to St Louis this year. Sure, three of them are our fellow Governor's Schools and we are very biased in that. 1731 built a robot that is just so unique and effective that it would be a shame to not see them again. 4242 has never had a chance to break through at a regional because of the outside powers that have come in there in the past to beat them down.

1137 comes from a county with fewer than 10,000 residents, sitting on the edge of the Chesapeake Bay at the tip of the Middle Peninsula. When you live in Mathews County, you go to Mathews High School. 1137 just slid into their spot in the rankings they earned it. This will be the first merit-based bid to the Championships for Rocket Sauce and we really can't wait to see them there.

We have been scratching and clawing for anything we could get all season, and I am really thrilled to see all the hard work the students put into this season pay off. I have heard rumblings and hearsay of influencers in the state some pretty disappointing falsehoods regarding my team. Despite my... difficult facade, it's really disheartening to hear student members on 422 have judges tell them that they didn't remember their Chairman's submission or have queuers who snap AT CHILDREN, or have referees who think it's ok to poke our student drive coach. We have loved districts but we have not loved that and left the appropriate feedback to the appropriate channels. Volunteers at the DCMP were some of the best we have ever interacted with; particularly in RIs, refereeing, and even safety advisors.

I am very proud of the work the students did this year. We operate in an environment where most teams would find difficulty gaining any traction at all. We work out of a 400 square foot classroom with enough mentors to count on 1 hand and still have fingers left. Finishing 5th in the system is definitely something we were somewhat expecting (I can say the goal was top 10, but honestly, it was just a ticket back to champs) but they grinded out every single point this year and they have definitely inspired me.

We were considering declining our captaincy to help maintain integrity of the predictions, but we called an audible and decided to try for finals. Thanks for a great year of entertainment; the students and I enjoyed your analysis.