Spring Break
Campus gangs up on Zahm in snow fight
500 students participate in frozen matchup; quads set rivalries aside, join against the Rabid Bats
Jay Fitzpatrick
Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: News
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There on the frozen tundra of North Quad, Zahm stood against the world.
The combined forces of North and South Quads - traditional enemies in the annual snowball fight that accompanies the winter season's first accumulation of snow - numbered an estimated 500 hurlers early Wednesday morning and backed the "Zahmbies" into the corner that separates their dorm from neighboring Cavanaugh Hall.
But the Zahm residents would not fold.
Zahm freshman Scott Wilkinsen was confident in his dorm's performance in the early goings of the fight.
"We're taking it. It's not terrible," he said. "It's fine if they want to come and get us - we'll take them anywhere, anyplace. We went over there and started stuff, and they came back here. It's kind of dissipating. We're taking it to them I think."
By 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, between 200 and 300 students remained in the fight. Participants said the total numbers had been almost double that in the preceding hour, though the mounting casualties did not seem to affect the snow fighters' mentality.
Wilkinsen quipped that Zahm's offseason conditioning program helped its residents prepare for Tuesday's showdown against its numerous adversaries.
"We actually worked out in Florida over the summer working with sand castles, working with compacting sand and it worked well. I think it paid off today," he said.
After several minutes of waiting for the right time for an offensive charge - after a reload of fresh supplies of hot cocoa - the Rabid Bats launched their attack. As the South Quad denizens sat back complacently, Zahm ran forward, snowballs at the ready, flinging them with wild abandon at the other lines.
"We felt that we had the numbers. Just some tactics we've been working out," Wilkinsen said. "… You can't sit back. Just like you've got to take it to the terrorists, you've got to take it to the South Quad people."
But it wasn't only South Quad people. On the other side of the conflict, Dillon freshman Adam Carlson said the main difference between this year's matchup and last year's was the nature of the combatants.
The combined forces of North and South Quads - traditional enemies in the annual snowball fight that accompanies the winter season's first accumulation of snow - numbered an estimated 500 hurlers early Wednesday morning and backed the "Zahmbies" into the corner that separates their dorm from neighboring Cavanaugh Hall.
But the Zahm residents would not fold.
Zahm freshman Scott Wilkinsen was confident in his dorm's performance in the early goings of the fight.
"We're taking it. It's not terrible," he said. "It's fine if they want to come and get us - we'll take them anywhere, anyplace. We went over there and started stuff, and they came back here. It's kind of dissipating. We're taking it to them I think."
By 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, between 200 and 300 students remained in the fight. Participants said the total numbers had been almost double that in the preceding hour, though the mounting casualties did not seem to affect the snow fighters' mentality.
Wilkinsen quipped that Zahm's offseason conditioning program helped its residents prepare for Tuesday's showdown against its numerous adversaries.
"We actually worked out in Florida over the summer working with sand castles, working with compacting sand and it worked well. I think it paid off today," he said.
After several minutes of waiting for the right time for an offensive charge - after a reload of fresh supplies of hot cocoa - the Rabid Bats launched their attack. As the South Quad denizens sat back complacently, Zahm ran forward, snowballs at the ready, flinging them with wild abandon at the other lines.
"We felt that we had the numbers. Just some tactics we've been working out," Wilkinsen said. "… You can't sit back. Just like you've got to take it to the terrorists, you've got to take it to the South Quad people."
But it wasn't only South Quad people. On the other side of the conflict, Dillon freshman Adam Carlson said the main difference between this year's matchup and last year's was the nature of the combatants.