[Gary Dillard]

We definitely had a blast! We had 18 veterans and 18 rookies make the trip, and several rookie parents drove up to see what it was about. Through qualifying we never had a driver or operator who had ever driven the robot - some had never even seen it (our rookie classes in the fall so far have been separate from the pit) - and we let the veteran students be the coaches. The mentors got to sit in the stands and just watch all day (except a couple of times to help troubleshoot problems) so it was a great experience for everyone. The excitement and spirit of this competition are great - that's what makes it contagious and why we promote it for the rookies to get them hooked.

Thanks to Nathan, Jason, George, Arefin, Tytus, Mike W, Billfred for the LONG hours you put in to get things up and running. Truly it's alot of work to put on a competition. I'm sure we'll be back next year.