2015 Finger Lakes Regional

[LeelandS]

As always, Finger Lakes was an amazing event. The kinds of score we saw in most qualification rounds was outstanding. We may not have had any clear powerhouses like 1114 or 148 or whohaveyou but there was no shortage of high-tier teams, and the top 8 was constantly shuffling. I don't think anyone had solid predictions throughout the event of who would end up on top.

Congrats to 4039, 3015 and 378 for the event win, and to 5254, 340 and 174 for some hard-fought finals. But double congratulations to all of them since we have an interesting circumstance where all teams in the finals are qualified for worlds, thanks to 4039's Chairman's win and 340's pre-qualification from Tech Valley! For a finals that was decided by 3 points, I don't think there is a more fitting way for an event to go down.

Personal congratulations to my alma mater, 1126. I thought 1126 had this event on lock after watching them put up 3 six stacks in one of their last qual matches. In the end, the firepower just wasn't enough and a bad first semifinals match ended their run. Nevertheless, I've never seen a team more prideful in defeat. Ending the competition by killing the regional record (which they help set) is a better way to go out than anything I could hope for. I thank them for helping us all the way through the event and bonding with members of my team as the event went on. We've had a tight partnership this season and I would love to see it continue to go strong. Go SparX!

To say that my team is unsatisfied with our performance is an understatement. But there is always next time, and a whole year remains to improve. FLR 2016 can't come soon enough!