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MCCTC students enjoy annual McMudder event
By Denise Dick
CANFIELD
They were muddy, waterlogged and out of breath, but Mahoning County Career and Technical Center students said it was worth it.
Friday marked the fifth McMudder at the center, a mud run around the grounds of the Palmyra Road facility.
More than 100 students participated in what has become an end-of-the-year tradition.
Seniors Austin Fitch from Lowellville, Archilious Green of Campbell and Mike Assion and Brett Lewis, both of Jackson-Milton, formed the Men in Black team. They ran the course last year, too, but said it was longer this year.
The worst part was the running, Austin said as he worked to catch his breath.
Brett and Mike, though, thought the cold water near the beginning of the course was the most-challenging part.
It wasn’t just the cold, Brett said.
“The water makes your clothes heavier and it weighs you down,” he said.
All of the teammates were in the school’s exercise- science program.
Phil Bellotta, exercise-science instructor, is one of the coordinators of the mudder.
“There’s the Arctic Plunge,” he said, referring to the station where competitors plunge into cold water.
They trudge through a swamp, emerging covered with mud, carry a partner, push a car and flip a truck tire down a field.
Winners are named for fastest individual, fastest team and best costume.
The course stretches about a mile and includes several elements of physical fitness.
“It’s strength, endurance, agility – a little bit of everything,” Bellotta said.
Chris Carpenter and Noah Puli, both juniors from Austintown in the school’s building-construction program, point to the water events as their favorite parts of the course.
They don’t mind getting muddy, Noah said.
Jazmine Miner and Renee Pollock, both from West Branch, and McKenna Schisler and Marcia Bolton, both of Western Reserve, formed a team from MCCTC horticulture program.
It was the first time they participated in the event.
“It’s our senior year,” McKenna explained. “It was a lot of fun.”
Jazmine, the only junior in the group, doubts she’ll run the course again next year.
But she loves the mud.
Marcia, however, wasn’t a fan. The swamp wasn’t so bad, but the mud she had to slog through smelled awful, she said.
The festivities also had an educational element.
Public safety students helped maintain order during the event. Multimedia students created the signage and T-shirts, construction students built pool for the Arctic Plunge, and the auto-technology department donated a car for the car push.