Competitive eating focus of the night
In one box of Twinkies, there are 10 of the yellow-colored, sponge-like cakes.
That totals 1,500 calories and 45 grams of fat.
And it took Adam Lueken, a junior physical education major, less than five minutes to consume all 10.
Lueken won the Twinkie-eating contest during Friday night’s Up All Nite event in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
That contest was one of many food-eating contests during the University Board sponsored event.
Luekin said he went into the Twinkie competition confident in his eventual victory.
“It’s all about attitude,” he said. “You got to believe you’re the best at eating Twinkies.”
Luekin said he felt like throwing up after devouring the Twinkies but that wasn’t going to stop him from entering more contests. The competition was the reason he came to the event.
The food-eating contests were not the only things in the University Ballroom.
The sounds of insanely fast eating battled with shouts of “I29, I20 and B8” from the bingo tables and the enthusiastic singing of “I’m a Barbie Girl.”
Down the hallway, smells of cotton candy drifted towards the bridge lounge, where snacks like crsme pies, chips and salsa were laid out.
The bridge lounge was just as active as the ballroom. Students could pose on a full color “Almost Famous” magazine cover, which was printed out so they could take it with them. Students could also stand in the cash box, where air blew pieces of paper up, which students had to catch in order to win the prize written on the paper.
Students could also participate in laser tag, located in the Grand Ballroom.
Andrew Hubbard, sophomore corporate communications major and UB special events coordinator, said he was pleased with the student participation during the night.
He said attendance ranged from 600 to 725 students throughout the night.
Hubbard said the event provided an “alternate to a stereotypical college weekend.”
But the main focus of the night was on the food-eating contests: Slushie slurping, hot sauce chugging, marshmallow stuffing and hot dog eating.
The hot dog-eating contest held two rounds and then a championship round.
Each round, about five students attempted the contest.
Each contestant had three hot dogs with buns, and the first to finish all three won.
Paul Martin, freshman theatre arts major, was shaking as he stuffed one hot dog after another into his mouth.
“I was hungry and hadn’t eaten in hours,” Martin said about why he entered the contest.
His mouth was completely full and his hands shook, but he shoved his last hotdog in his mouth. All that was left was to swallow and he would win the first round and a Wal-Mart gift card.
Martin said this was the hardest part but everyone else still had at least one hotdog left on their plate.
Martin won the first round but would go on to lose in the championship
The winner of this round was the person who ate the most hotdogs in five minutes.
And it would be Luekin’s roommate, Erik Henschel, who would win the championship.
Henschel, a junior physical education major, said he had never done competitive eating before. He ate almost five hotdogs to win.
“It feels good and disgusting,” Henschel said.
Emily Zulz may be reached at 581-7945 or at eazulz@eiu.edu.
Competitive eating focus of the night
Kirsten Gee, freshmen math education major, stuffs twinkies into her mouth at the Up All Nite food-eating contest, Friday night in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. (Karla Browning
