By Brooke Coupal ‘17
Associate Editor-in-Chief
The winter sports season is fast approaching, and with this comes Merrimack College’s annual Midnight Madness.
Many of the winter sports’ teams have been prepping for their season for months, building excitement and anticipation among the players. Midnight Madness is a chance for the fans to gain this excitement as well, through events that pump up the crowd.
On October 24th, the night started off with a line outside the door of Hamel Court. Students anxiously anticipated all the events that were to happen inside, while receiving free t-shirts and Halloween goody-bags consisting of boom clappers, noise makers, rally towels, Merrimack Proud bracelets and stickers.
As each student entered Hamel Court, they were greeted by the Merrimack Planning Board and Student Government Association members. Music blared throughout the gymnasium, as a DJ played many of today’s hit songs. The bleachers began to fill, as students sat and waited for the festivities to start.
The Merrimack College cheerleader’s were first to perform. They executed their halftime routine, which consisted of many difficult stunts, flips, and cheer moves. Once their routine was over, they joined the Merrimack College dancer’s into welcoming the men’s and women’s basketball team. Each player was announced individually, allowing them to run down the tunnel of cheerleaders and dancers. Senior basketball player Chloe Rothman came out with her scooter, leaving cheers among the crowd. Once each player was announced, the Merrimack College dancers were able to perform their routine, consisting of many spins and dance moves.
After all the excitement of each performance that occurred, three different basketball competitions took place. The first was a three-point contest between two teachers, two student athletes, and two other students. The winner of this was Troy Hammel, a junior on the men’s basketball team. Hammel scored eleven three-pointers in thirty seconds, more than anyone else who competed. This was followed by a half-court shoot-out between four students, each getting two tries to make a basket from half-court. The winner was to receive a flat screen television, but unfortunately no students were able to make the shot. The television will be saved for a student to try and hit a half-court shot during the halftime of both the men and women’s games. Finally, a dunk contest occurred between three of the men’s basketball players. Each player had 30 seconds to do as many trick dunks as they could, and were then judged by a panel of three judges. Junior Gelvis Solano won, as he dunked over three of the women’s basketball players for his final dunk, wowing the crowd and the judges.
The night concluded with a dance conducted by the women’s basketball team. Freshman Kendra Verone stated “It was interesting to see the team come out of their comfort zone.” They choreographed moves to many of the hit songs on the radio, and finished with balloons falling from the ceiling onto them.
