A Mines student pulls the safety pin on a pumpkin
trebuchet during the annual festival.
South Dakota Mines plans to hold its annual pumpkin
catapult competition at the Great
Downtown Pumpkin Festival
beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25 in Memorial Park.
The
immensely popular pumpkin chucking event is hosted by South Dakota Mines’ Center
of Excellence for Advanced Multidisciplinary Projects (CAMP) drawing thousands
of spectators who watch student-built catapults and trebuchets fling pumpkins
hundreds of feet into the air in a competition of both distance and accuracy.
The
team that comes closest to hitting 100, 200 and 300-foot marks on the field
wins the trophy. Teams from area high schools are also invited to attend and
often place very well against the collegiate teams.
The
first round will begin at 10:30 a.m.; the final round at 1 p.m. will determine
the winners. Mines’ Robotics Team developed an online
scoreboard that will
track the competition.
Mines
also invites the public to join the homecoming football game at O’Harra Stadium
that evening beginning at 4 p.m. as the Hardrockers take on Colorado State
University Pueblo, find ticket information here.