Men's cross country captures carving contest crown; Pumpkins to be gifts

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The men's cross country, represented by John Greene and Sterling Smith, earned the judges nod Thursday morning in a Pumpkin Carving Contest among the teams and some Athletic Dept. personnel.

An event of Tech's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the contest brought out the best from the student-athletes in a race against time to craft a pumpkin creation to impress the judges. First-aid supplies were on hand, but fortunately not needed despite the pace of the event.

The five-member panel of judges included Director of Student Activities Mark Ochsenbein, Cookeville City Councilman Jim Woodford, Assistant to the University President Terri Taylor, Health and Physical Education Instructor Lanise Rosemond, and former University President Angelo Volpe.

The cross country team's winning pumpkin was called Moonraker. Second place went to the women's track team throwers for a creation called Stars and Stripes. The men's basketball team (The Birds Nest) and football team (The Boys of Fall) tied for third place while fifth place went to the women's golf team for Long Drive.

Photographs of all the pumpkins and teams will be featured in the November-December edition of unlimited, the online magazine of Tennessee Tech Athletics found on TTUsports.com.

The decorated pumpkins will be delivered as gifts to seniors in Cookeville by the student-athletes.

The volleyball team, represented by Audrey Lewis (left) and Christine Maci didn't place in the top five, but had the most unique carving -- Frankenburger.