Students navigated a tricky obstacle course Thursday, complete with a tube crawl and wall jump, for a shot to win $1,000 in the Under Armour Challenge.
“We built an obstacle course to challenge the students’ body and strength and the best teams compete in the end (to build) a tangram puzzle, which is a test of the mind,” event director Evan Frank said.
Students were divided into teams of four, racing through the course one-by-one to finish with the fastest time.
The event, held on the Tempe campus Student Reaction Complex fields, also featured appearances from MTV Real World/Road Rules challenge cast members and rapper Lil’ Jon, who did not perform but served as a DJ.
Family and human development senior Joel Sienkiewicz said the obstacle course wasn’t too challenging even though he scraped his face.
“It was easier than I thought it would be,” Sienkiewicz said.
Business communications freshman Janayle Ruiz and nursing freshman Hannah McCormick of team “Cheer Hotties” said they wanted to compete to have some fun.
Ruiz and McCormick said the course was tougher than they expected but said they thought the event was awesome.
“It’s a lot of fun,” McCormick said. “I like it and I’m glad they came out today.”
The final featured a matchup between “the 22’s” and “the Barbies” who had both qualified with times under 46 seconds.
“The Barbies,” composed of Peter “Tyke” Solomon, Chris Ortiz, Tanner Bailey and Ashley Provenzano, scored the narrow victory after completing their puzzle first.
After they were presented with a giant check, the winning students said they formed a team and joined the competition on a whim.
“We saw this outside and thought it would be cool to do,” Bailey said.
Reach the reporter at brennan.j.smith@asu.edu
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