A HUGE thank you/congratulations to... the great state of MN

[Vikesrock]

A huge thank you to all the Volunteers that helped make the Northstar regional the fantastic event that it was, especially regional Chairperson Mark Lawrence and Volunteer Coordinator Laurie Shimizu.

The volunteers did an excellent job getting teams on and off the field in a timely manner. As far as I know we had no major field issues on any day of the competition.

Our robot had some electrical issues that caused us to not move in two matches on Friday. I knew that the problem was likely on our end, based on feedback from the light above our station, the driver's station, and our dashboard, but the volunteers running the control system made sure to check with us on our way off the field both times.

I also wanted to thank our alliance partners Team 171, the Cheese Curd Herd and Team 525, the Swart-Dogs. You guys trusted us when we told you that we had our electrical issues resolved and we hope we didn't disappoint. Your teams both showed tremendous gracious professionalism in our wins in the quarters and our losses in the semis. We greatly enjoyed working with both of you and hope you will continue to return to Minnesota and that we'll have an opportunity to play with each of you again. We just might have to see what we can do to get over to Wisconsin or down to St. Louis or KC next year too.

Congratulations to the finalist alliance of 1816, 2472, and 2418. We knew that your alliance was going to be very difficult for us to beat and it turns out we were right. Even when we managed to hold 1816 in check 2472 made us pay for it.

Congratulations to the winning alliance of 79, 2970 and 2549. 79 had proven that they were the robot to beat throughout the whole competition and when I saw them pair up with 2970 I immediately pegged them as the favorites to go all the way. 2549 rounded out this fantastic alliance and grabbed their second regional win in their two years of existence.

A special congratulations goes out to Team 2169 for taking home the Chairman's award. I was a bit surprised and disappointed when you guys didn't get picked for the Elims, but I hope the Chairman's makes up for it I knew you guys were instrumental in working on the FTC program here and that you were mentoring and/or starting some teams but I had no idea it was 20+ teams!!! It's great to see such a fantastic team rewarded for their efforts. If you guys are going to Atlanta and need anything, don't hesitate to ask and we'll do what we can.

[Matt382]

Ok I have some thank yous and congratulations togive out too.

2472 - As an alliance partner, you guys were the bomb! You helped score tons of moon rocks even when we were pinned. You did a great job, even though you had some bad luck in the last match. (Our second to last match wasn't much better)

2418 - You guys were ranked last when we played you our last match on friday and were ranked 39th at the end of qualifying rounds. You easily proved that the ranks were flawed and we were extremely happy when you were left for us to pick. You played great defense in the elims and helped us get out of countless pins. We would'nt have made it so far without such a strong 2nd pick.

2970 - Your robot was great and your team members friendly, great job in Wisconsin and even better in Minnesota. I'm sad to hear you might not have a team next year since you have so many seniors. Good luck in nationals and at college next year!

79 - I didn't really get a chance to talk to you guys in the pits or anything but you had an awesome robot and you guys were definetely one of the top robots at competition. I'm glad you braved the cold, came to Minnesota, and set the standard high for all the new rookie teams.

2549 - A second regional win in your second year is fantastic. You proved reliable throughout the elims. Good luck at nationals!

2169 - I'm happy to see you guys win the Chairman's Award. You did a fantastic job lending out tools in the pit and a great job outreaching and I had lots of fun mentoring our tech team (2887) at the tech competition you guys hosted. I hear you guys are also converting to a dumper like we did so we should expect some great results from you guys at nationals. Good luck!

2817 - Great moves, thanks for teaching us the 'stanky leg', and getting one of our mentors to dance! You have one of the friendliest teams and always said hi and wished us good luck in our matches. Dining with you at the Spagetti factory on Thursday was lots of fun. We LOVE you guys (Bumblebutt says you better have a mascot to help him next year)

Mark Lawrence deserves all the congratulations he received, and more. He has worked his butt off inspiring countless FIRST teams in Minnesota. The Green Machine appreciates the fact that we can call him our own and know that we will continue to assist him in his endeavors in the future.

Laurie Shimizu also did a fantastic job as the volunteer coordinator for the Minnesota Regional. She has come a long way from the communication mentor of team 1816, she now uses twitter and texts both Green Machine and Volunteers constantly; Laurie Shimizu is the secret success of our team and the MN Regional.

Great job to all the teams attending the Minnesota regionals. You put on a great performance. Minnesota is one of the fastest growing states in FIRST robotics, lets keep it up! Hopefully, with all of your help, we can continue the growth of FTC and create the large sustainable program FIRST is all about. Keep working hard, have tons of fun, and see you all next year!

--The Green Machine