A group of home-schooled children from Monongalia County won the 16th annual Pumpkin Drop Friday, Oct. 31, at West Virginia University.
The Cheat Lake Home School teams entry, H-Bomb, landed intact 1 foot, 9 inches from the target to claim the $50 first prize in the College of Engineering and Mineral Resourcesannual engineering competition.
Teams from Magnolia High School in New Martinsville and Connellsville (Pa.) Area High School finished second and third, respectively.
The Pumpkin Drop challenges participants to design and build packages to protect pumpkins as they fall 11 floors from atop the Engineering Sciences Building on WVU s Evansdale campus. The team whose pumpkin lands closest to the target without going splat wins.
Some 107 pumpkins took the plunge this year, and fourteensurvived,said Don Lyons, a mechanical and aerospace engineering professor who emceed the event.
This was another successful Pumpkin Drop,said Lyons, who appeared in costume in keeping with the spirit of the competition falling on Halloween.We had lots of participants from the University and area schools and hundreds of spectators who had a good time.
The Cheat Lake teams winning package consisted of a blue plastic barrel cushioned on both ends with aluminum cans, plastic foam and cardboard. Inside, the pumpkin rested in an inner tube surrounded by egg cartons.
Members of the team are Chris Litton, Aaron Manley, Kazuki Negri, Garrett Smith and Jeremy Stanley. All fifth-graders are home-schooled with the exception of Litton, who attends Cheat Lake Middle School.
The Magnolia High teams package landed 3 feet, 6 inches from the target to place second. Team members Michael Carroll, Anthony Farrell, Alex Rader, Dusty Shepherd and Ted Talkington will share the $25 prize.
The Connellsville teams entry came to rest 5 feet, 7 inches from the bulls eye to claim the $10 third place prize. Team members are J.J. Dinicola, Laura Echard, Troy Evans, Justin Maselli, Lauren McCormick, Chuck Sleasman and Mike Whiting.
This years event also raised $1,200 for the Ronald McDonald House, which provides lodging for families of hospitalized children, said Heather Johnson, president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers student chapter. The organization sponsors the competition.