This spring – in addition to the usual final exams, finishing theses, and graduation – many MSRC students, faculty and staff tested their mettle in a variety of sporting events around campus.
The 16th Annual Roth Pond Regatta, held on April 29, was the first of these events. The Regatta is one of the largest annual events on campus – and perhaps the most anticipated by the undergraduate community. This year, the races across the campus pond included over 75 entries in one of two categories: the “Speedsters” piloted by one person, and the “Yachts” crewed by two to four people. MSRC Professor Kamazima Lwiza advised a group of undergraduate Environmental Studies majors on their boat design in the yacht category. The students broke with the traditional construction materials of cardboard and duct tape preferring instead to use 1,253 DasaniTM water bottles. This substitution made them ineligible to win the race, but they chose instead to raise awareness for the “Bigger, Better, Bottle Bill” Campaign aimed at expanding New York State’s bottle recycling bill. Hundreds of spectators cheered on their 3-person craft as they crossed the pond.
The second event brought MSRC its first Intramural Championship. For the past few years, MSRC has entered softball teams in Stony Brook’s Intramural League and, although the teams have been competitive, they have been unable to capture the elusive intramural championship title … until now. MSRC entered two teams this year – a men’s team and a co-ed team- both captained by MSRC graduate student Joe Olson. The men’s team won the recreational league championship and the co-ed team finished runner- up. Both teams were undefeated in regular season play.
Olson explained, “The teams were composed of a mixture of graduate students, post-docs, and professors, who represented the department with force. We are not only proud to produce MSRC’s first intramural championship, but also some of the season’s most lopsided victories, some of the most violent base path collisions, and the most broken legs.” For a summary of scores and pictures of the teams in action, check out: http://rain.msrc.sunysb.edu/joe/softball/
The final event, held on May 14th, was MSRC’s annual Vax to Flax race that pits the students against the faculty/staff in a 5- mile run from MSRC to the department’s Flax Pond Marine Lab on Long Island’s north shore. The winning team boasts bragging rights until the next spring’s race and this year that honor once again went to the faculty. The race was followed by a BBQ at the marine lab. The fastest student honors went to Aaron Beck and Cheryl Bell. The fastest faculty/staff were Chris Clapp and Nicole Riemer. For photos of the day’s festivities, go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z2mEtcHgkTDGEGke7
