Returning champions Phi-Chi/Beta (PCB) dominated Knollcrest East’s (KE) MudBowl again this year, finishing first in all but one event.

The apartments split into four teams to compete for a bowling ball trophy, a pizza party and apartment pride. Students compete in hula-hoop jumps, relay races, a balloon pop and tug of war.

“It’s essentially KE’s version of Chaos Day, except we do it in a giant mud pit,” said Jana Biegel, assistant area coordinator in KE. “It’s a traditional event.”

As at Chaos Day, the tug of war was the most exciting event.

“It’s the one event where you have to work as a team,” said senior Aera Lew. “Plus you fall all over the place and get really muddy.”

Zeta-Lamba/Alpha (ZLA) and Theta/Epsilon were the first to enter this event, ending in ZLA’s victory. Kappa-Delta-Gamma (KDG) vs. Phi-Chi/Beta proved a more intense battle: the members of KDG held the rope steady for about 30 seconds when PCB was near winning, but in the end, lost the battle when more than one member slipped face first in the calf-deep mud. PCB also dominated in the final tug of war against ZLA.

A favorite part, though, is the massive mud fight that inevitably takes place at the end, participants said.

“It’s really the best part of the whole thing,” said senior Ashley Tudder. “You get all muddy and it’s tons of fun.”

The residents of KDG, whose team was double the size of any others, initiated the tackling before the winners had even been announced. The ensuing mud fight lasted a good 10 minutes after the competition was disbanded.

“They looked like they were having a good time,” said Biegel. “It’s fierce competition, but in the end it’s all about having fun.”

And fun in all events, it seems, is directly proportional to how dirty each person becomes.

“I think the hula-hoop jump is my favorite,” said Tudder. “You get extra messy.”

Senior Kendra Kosirog also enjoyed the hula-hoop event. “It has the most action. You get all muddy; it’s kinda like the initiation event.”

Chess Van Wyk, resident assistant (RA) in Zeta, was partial to the balloon pop. “It’s all about strategy, though next year we need better strings.”

In this event, students would tie a balloon around their ankle, then scramble around the mud pit attempting to defend their balloon while demolishing others.

Body slams were sometimes employed, although the balloons would occasionally fall off, requiring students to leave the mud pit for more string.

For one Kappa-Delta-Gamma girl, this left her the lone member of her team against a swarm from Phi-Chi/Beta. Others were more inventive, turning their balloon into a makeshift soccer ball and “dribbling” it around the mud pit.

“It was actually more intense than I expected it to be,” said junior Kristin Roelofs. “And combined with the battle music, it was almost scary, but definitely fun.”

Though MudBowl may not be as big a deal on campus as Chaos Day, it is, in the words of

Kappa RA Rachel Mason, “a great way to get down and dirty with our community.”