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|
The Hurdles
|
The trainers and their rats get three opportunities to get the fastest
run around the track. The time begins with the word "go" and ends when
the rat's nose breaks the plane of the reinforcement carpet. The following is
consistent across all of the events. Each competitor
pair has a dedicated timer who then, after the completion of the three races,
reports the results to the official score table. At the completion of the
event, the official then projects the competitor's shortest times on the big screen
for the audience to observe. The Medal Ceremony then commences.
|
|
|
|
2nd Set of Competitors
Notice that based on the 2nd race, Athena (in the outer lane) would have
won the gold in the Hurdles. But during the third race, Athena had a
surprise for her on the inside track.
|
Medal Ceremony
|
|
| Hurdles
|
Trainer |
Rat |
Team |
Time |
|
| Sarah Armstrong |
Lucy |
Juniors |
19.3 |
|
|
Jaci Summerville |
Kitty | Juniors |
7.48 |
|
|
Whitney Livingston |
Kitty |
Seniors | 9.38 |
|
|
Lindsay Meyer |
Galie |
First Years | 5.94 |
|
| Joe Gohr |
Alice |
Sophmores | 15.49 |
|
|
Amber Juilfs |
Athena |
Sophmores | 6.62 |
|
|
|
|
Record: |
4.2 sec |
|
|
|
|
The Rope Climb
|
The trainers and their rats get three opportunities to get the fastest
climb. The time begins when the rat is placed on the lower platform and ends when
the rat's nose breaks the plane of the upper platform.
|
|
1st Set of Competitors
Notice as Daisy makes her way up the rope, Nicole Rager's rat, Roxy, makes her
gold medal winning climb. You also may notice in shots of the crowd that fans
brought a sign to cheer Roxy on.
|
|
Medal Ceremony
|
|
|
| Rope Climb
|
Trainer |
Rat |
Team |
Time |
|
|
Katie Weatherl |
Bella | Juniors |
21.4 |
|
|
Kelly Bose |
Loratta |
Seniors | 13.53 |
|
|
Joel Armitage |
Daisy |
First Years | 21.87 |
|
| Nicole Rager |
Roxy |
Sophmores | 3.33* |
|
|
|
|
Record: |
4.88 sec |
|
* = New Record
|
As you can see the Great Hall was packed with spectators.
|
The Tightrope
|
The trainers and their rats get three opportunities to get the fastest
crossing. The time begins when the rat is placed on the beginning platform and ends when
the rat's nose breaks the plane of the ending platform.
|
|
1st Set of Competitors
Kristin's rat, Pinky, provides her gold medal winning performance. Notice
that Pinky's front quarters are on one side of the rope while her hind
quarters are on the other. With the aid of her tail, Pinky thus balances
herself as she crosses the rope.
|
2nd Set of Competitors
Erik Hjermstad is really egging his rat, Zoltar, on during her trek
across the rope. Also notice that Zoltar drops below the rope and
performs a paw-over-paw technique to reach the platform. All of the
rats initially use this technique to cross the rope. Without any special
training, the rats then gradually adopt the technique of balancing
themselves on top of the rope.
|
Medal Ceremony
|
|
|
| Tight Rope
|
Trainer |
Rat |
Team |
Time |
|
|
James Ahlschwede |
Clutch |
Sophomores |
6.37 |
|
|
Kristin Wacker |
Pinky |
Juniors |
5.62 |
|
|
Erik Hjermstad |
Zoltar |
Seniors |
8.4 |
|
| Christina Robinson |
May |
First Years |
7.29 |
|
|
|
|
Record: |
3.7 sec |
|
|
The Nebraska Wesleyan Spirit Squad gave the crowd a great cheer and in return
the crowd joined them in the "Let's Go Rats" cheer. Also notice Tim Scahill's (an
art student) contribution to the Event Formally Known as the Rat Olympics: a hilarious animation. Click below
to view it.
Tim's Animation
|
Weight Lifting
|
The trainers and their rats get three minutes to get the heaviest lift.
The time begins when the rat is placed in the box. As the rat pulls down on
the lever on the inside of the box, a bucket full of weights is lifted on
the outside of the box. There are 3 sizes of weights: 10 grams, 7 gs and 3 gs.
The official score for the weight lifting event is measured in the percentage
of the competitor's body weight lifted.
|
|
1st Set of Competitors
Jon's rat, Jinx, lifted an incredible amount of weight thus breaking the old
weight lifting record.
|
2nd Set of Competitors
Heather's rat, Gracie, uses her weight to lift the bucket. This technique is
considered a legal approcah to solving the problem, however its effectiveness
is limited by the weight of the rat.
|
Cheating
Notice that our competitor's trainer helped his/her rat lift the bar just at the
very end and added a few weights following the lift. The pressure to succeed is great
during the Event Formally Known as the Rat Olympics.
|
Medal Ceremony
|
|
|
| Weight Lifting
|
Trainer |
Rat |
Team |
% Body
Weight |
|
|
Heather Lichtenberg |
Glacie |
Sophomores |
87 |
|
|
Jon Thober |
Jinx |
First Years |
116* |
|
|
Jon Kreuger |
Carl |
Sophomores |
94* |
|
| Reece Hale |
Sadie |
Juniors |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Record: |
88% |
|
* = New Record
|
|
|
The Long Jump
|
The trainers and their rats get three minutes to perform their longest jump.
The time begins when the rat is placed on the launch platform. Notice that
the rat's jump is a standing long jump. This event is the hardest event to
train.
|
|
|
1st Set of Competitors
|
Last Competitor
Tomo Kojima is a Nebraska Wesleyan student who has traveled all the way from
Japan. She named her rat Ishiban. Tomo to encourage her rat to jump says,
"Oide" which means "Come Here" in Japanese. This makes Ishiban the only rat
that we know of who knows Japanese.
|
Medal Ceremony
|
|
|
| Long Jump
|
Trainer |
Rat |
Team |
Distance |
|
|
Jessi Backes |
Lady |
Sophomores |
6.5 |
|
|
Any Hules |
Rockin’ Robin |
Seniors |
11.5 |
|
|
Paul Blaha |
Fifel |
Juniors |
7 |
|
| John Bowles |
Jaz |
Seniors |
12 |
|
| Tomo Kojima |
Ishiban |
First Years |
17 |
|
|
|
|
Record: |
48.5 inches |
|
|
|
|
|
| Tally of
the Medals
|
Team |
Valient
Effort |
Bronze |
Silver |
Gold |
Points |
|
| First Years |
|
|
|
 |
15 |
 |
| Sophomores |
|
|
|
|
13 |
 |
| Juniors |
 |
|
|
|
10 |
 |
| Seniors |
|
 |
 |
|
12 |
 |
|
