Ag Hill Olympics at Penn State

Last weekend I spent a few minutes at the Ag Olympics in the Snider Agricultural Arena. The Ag Olympics is a student run event where clubs and organizations compete against each other in a wide range of odd and sometimes humorous events. In the above picture two students compete in an ice cream eating competition. A blindfolded team member must feed their non-blindfolded teammate a cup full of ice cream as quickly as they can.

How often do you throw logs for accuracy and distance?

I watched the above event for awhile from a distance. It seems the race to fill the milk bottle with water begins first with a race to put on a cow costume complete with udder.

Teamwork is important to most of the competitions. like charging across the Arena and then having to pass the burger to a teammate.

One by one down the row team members had to chug a cup full of cold milk. That was the easy part though I did see a few unlucky competitors with milk running out of their noses. The real challenge came afterward as one by one they set the cups upside down on the edge of the table and attempt to flip them over with one finger and have them land on the table in the same position.

A course inspired by dog agility competitions. I shuddered thinking about my knees on a concrete floor.

This picture was made during the cowpie pitching contest. The good news for competitors is they were using fake cowpies. The bad news was that the pitching for accuracy was as challenging as ever.

Nerves were on edge as this team awaited the start call from the official timer before tearing into the corn shucking contest.

Concentration and focus were essential for the archery challenge as student after student tried their luck with a miniature bow and suction cup arrow.

As serious as some of the competitors were it was obvious the real payoff to the Ag Olympics is the fun and social interactions among students in the College of Ag Sciences. It's easy to see how the College earns it's reputation among students as a close and family atmosphere.