Shortly before 8:00 a.m. this morning, the first heat of the Buggy Sweepstakes 2005 was off and running. Day one of the competition consisted of 11 women's preliminary heats immediately followed by 13 men's preliminary heats. This year, Beta Theta Pi would not participate, however all of the other usual competitors would have a presence, including the Kappa Kappa Gamma buggy that made its debut at last year's Spring Carnival. As the day progressed, it would remain sunny with cooler temperatures comfortable for the race.

The women's heats went smoothly with no crashes or other incidents. However, about halfway through the men's heats Sigma Nu's B team buggy tipped over and crashed into the hay in the chute. This unfortunate event took place right in front of the Sigma Nu alumni tent which was set up to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its last sweepstakes victory. The large crowd that gathered around to assist the buggy driver to make sure she was okay consisted mostly of Sigma No brothers and alumni. Everyone was relieved to see that the driver, although a bit shaken up, was fine and was able to walk away from the crash.

The day would finish off with the two fastest buggies of the day rolling in the last two heats. Fringe A would roll to a time of 2:09.84 which would later be beat by Pi Kappa Alpha A receiving a time of 2.08.14 after the officials discussed a possible false start penalty on the fastest buggy of the day. The excitement will continue tomorrow morning with the final heats.

	story images

Bram Whillock passing the buggy off to Wes Morrill for Pioneers A.	Fringe D on Hill 5 sprinting to the finish for a time of 2:29.
Spirit A and SigEp B in Heat 10 coming down the hill.	Derek Eguae-Obazee running Hill 4 for Fringe A, making his contribution to the second fastest time of the day.
SigEp A trails as PiKA B pulls into the lead right before speeding through the chute.	Fringe A speeds through the chute for the best women's time of the day of 2:38.29
A pusher for Pioneers B moves fast sending the Buggy over Hill 2.	The SigEp A buggy gets started on its freeroll just before one last shove from the Hill 2 pusher.
CIA crosses the finish with another one of its retractable pushbar buggy designs.	The Fringe buggy crosses the finish line in a final leap.
Spirit heading down the freeroll area.	SigEp catches their buggy at the finish line.
SigNu B rolls onto its side making the turn in the chute.	The SigNu B buggy slams into the hay at a high rate of speed and then spins on its side until it finally comes to a safe stop.
SDC gets their buggy into position moments prior to the start of a race.	Spirit B, SigNu C and Pioneers B get off to a quick start in their preliminary heat.

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