The crunch of fall leaves can be heard with every step, as residents from inside the all-female dorm building come pouring out to watch the contest take place. It is 30 degrees and lots of patterned scarves, brown Ugg boots, tall Starbucks drinks, and lipstick in shades of rich burgundy, soft nude, and deep plum can be seen. Cute little black tablecloths decorate the courtyard. The tablecloths feature images of pumpkin pie topped with a dollop of whipped cream, and directions on how to cook your pie just right are shown- that is, if one is interested in transforming themselves into Betty Crocker for the holiday season.

To get Ashland University students in the fall spirit, on Tuesday night, Clark Hall Council hosted their first-ever pie-eating contest exclusively for the residents of Clark Hall only- located on the Kilhefner patio.

Through creative brainstorming, Clark Hall Council organized the event for students, as well as chose all of the pie flavors for the contest, which included apple, chocolate, and pumpkin.

“We had a list of about eight flavors, and we thought that was a little unreasonable, so we chose the top three and took account of possible peanut allergies,” Clark Hall president, junior Nicole Paradis, said.

With one winner per pie flavor, there were three winners overall. With each prize worth $25, students received AU memorabilia, everything from knit wool hats to colorful lanyards. 

Junior Rylee Shoup was very intrigued at the sight of the event, as she “has never seen anything like this before.”

Junior Natalie Kracker did not want to be a participant herself in the pie-eating contest, because of “lots of calories,” but thoroughly enjoyed watching all of the ladies attempt to finish their pie whole.

“It is a really fun idea, and everyone looks like they are having fun,” Kracker said.

Sophomore Gwendolyn Ferguson believes that the event was ideal in bringing the Clark Hall ladies together; especially since the occasion involves food, and is not one’s typical craft session or movie night. “Free food is every college kids’ dream,” Ferguson said. “Free pie is awesome.”

Sophomore Emily Bidlack, one of the various competitors eating the chocolate pie, ended up withdrawing from the contest after 15 minutes.

“I am not really a huge pie fan; I do not like apple pie or pumpkin pie, so I was like okay, “I think chocolate will be alright,” Bidlack said.

Although Bidlack loved the energy of the enthusiastic crowd cheering all individuals on, she felt a teeny bit nervous being observed by so many Ashland University students.

“I talked to the other girls at my table and was like, okay, are we full-on shoving this pie in our faces, or are we eating more civilized?”

With access to forks, the ladies quickly dove into their pie as soon as the timer began.

“I have never done anything like that before,” Bidlack said. “I definitely am not going to try it ever again. I started too fast, and I did not know how to plan it out.”

Additionally, the girls had access to water during the contest; although Bidlack did not drink anything until she felt ill.

Not having eaten since lunch, she was grateful that she had not eaten dinner before attempting to eat the entire pie in one sitting. She offered her best piece of advice for those interested in attempting to take on the challenge of winning an eating contest.

“Make sure it is something that you don’t love, or it will be ruined for you,” Bidlack said.

Sophomore Taya Williams, the winner who ate her entire apple pie in just ten minutes, felt incredibly confident the entire way through and did not waver for one second on her ability to succeed.

“I feel great; it is always good to win,” Williams said. “Although me and apple pie broke up.”

While a positive experience for Williams, she is definitely open-minded and says she would consider doing another contest again- if the food selection was different.

“Maybe if the food was French fries, I could win that,” Williams said. “I eat that all the time.”

Sophomore Amanda Chahulski, the winner who ate her entire pumpkin pie in just under 15 minutes, acknowledged what she immediately noticed after she took a step back from the competition table.

“I feel very full; the pie was quite delicious, I’m not going to lie,” Chahulski said. “After bite three I was kind of like, “wow, I don’t really like pumpkin that much.”

After a friend convinced Chahulski to participate in the contest, she felt ready to take on her opponents and above all, have fun. As a huge fan of the hit TV-show, Man v. Food on the Travel Channel, she acknowledged that drinking water was a huge component in her overall success. Although, she believes she will not partake in another eating contest again in the future, and will leave all of the eating up to actor, television personality, and beloved foodie, Adam Richman.

“I am really happy I won; it was really close between me and my main opponent,” Chahulski said.

Sophomore Lexi Fraelich, the winner who ate her entire chocolate pie in just under half an hour, described how she was feeling after winning the contest.

“It feels incredible,” Fraelich beamed. “The pie flavor was very delicious at first, and now I kind of hate it.”

Although Fraelich may have eaten her fair share of pie for the next decade, she says she isn’t one to back down from a challenge. While some chose to use forks to avoid the gooey mess, others like Fraelich chose to simply pick up the pie with her hands.

“I love competition as well; wherever there is competition, I’ll be there,” Fraelich said.

“I feel like this is a good representation of the fall season, because who doesn’t like pie?” Paradis said.

All of the money contributed to the event is going towards Clark Hall renovations. With the event a success, Clark Hall Council hopes to host the pie-eating contest again next year.