[Lisa Rodriguez]

As crazy as this sounds......it's actually not that bad.
This year, with my team going to Annapolis, we had to vote between leaving after school on Wednesday, arriving at almost midnight or later, and then sleeping in a hotel for around 6 hours, and then going to the competition Thursday or leaving around midnight, and arriving between 6 and 7 AM to compete Thursday. Leaving right after school won out, so there's no saving hotel money, but it's what the team wanted.
In years past, going to SBPLI Regional (long island) and NJ regional, we left at 2 or 3 in the morning, drove sleepily (coach bus, we didn't drive) to the regional Thursday morning. One way or another everyone is going to be sleepy Thursday, but as long as drive and pit are awake, everything will be fine. The adrenaline alone will keep you awake......