By Marisa Penkauskas
Every year, colleges across the country participate in the Expresso Fall Frenzy, a five-week March-Madness style tournament that brings staff, students, and faculty alike together to ride as many miles as they can on Expresso bikes. Team members pine for rec centers to stay open for 48 hours straight—the length of each round of the tournament—and many facilities actually do. This year’s tournament started with 145 colleges. Two rounds into the tournament, only eight teams remain.
Results from the Super Sixteen
The eight teams moving into the Electric Eight are Schoolcraft College, Saint Mary’s College of CA, Gannon University, Marist College, SUNY Binghamton, the University of Iowa, Valparaiso University, and Salem State University.
Schoolcraft College – 1,761 miles vs. Lock Haven University – 283 miles
Saint Mary’s College of CA – 1,057 miles vs. Colorado Mountain College – Spring Valley – 116 miles
Gannon University – 819 miles vs. SUNY Oswego – 326 miles
Marist College – 1,293 miles vs. Houghton College – 651 miles
SUNY Binghamton – 1,031 miles vs. Carthage College – 699 miles
University of Iowa – 1,125 miles vs. Carnegie Mellon University – 1,030 miles
Valparaiso University – 962 miles vs. University of South Dakota – 805 miles
Salem State University – 403 miles vs. Cedarville University – 244 miles
Within the first fifteen minutes of the Super Sixteen round—which started at midnight—over half of the teams put in miles. Pat Mog, top rider for team Schoolcraft, surprised the other teams by riding 180 miles in just the first twelve hours of the tournament.
Schoolcraft is feeling the pressure this year since they were the winners in last year’s Fall Frenzy tournament. Lisa Cunningham, team captain and an exercise specialist and fitness lead at Schoolcraft, is working hard to motivate her team. “We’re not counting our chickens before they hatch,” she says, “but we are going to try to defend our championship!”
Three teams were an upset in their brackets: Marist College, University of Iowa, and Salem State University. Marist College is a school to watch out for. They participated in the 2014 Fall Frenzy but ended up not making it out of the qualifying round. They put in 1,293 miles in this last Super Sixteen round, nearly doubling the amount of miles ridden by competitor Houghton College.
The Electric Eight
Schoolcraft College vs. Salem State University
Schoolcraft College, last year’s defending champion, will be up against one of the upset teams of the Super Sixteen round.
Saint Mary’s College of CA vs. Valparaiso University
First-time Fall Frenzy participant Saint Mary’s College of CA is pulling out all the stops! They’ve even set up a table next to their Expresso bikes with refreshments to keep energy high in the Valparaiso University Fitness Center. Valparaiso competed in the Fall Frenzy for the first time last year and is back with a vengeance!
Marist College vs. SUNY Binghamton
Marist College, another upset team from the Super Sixteen round, will be up against the runner-up from the first ever Fall Frenzy, which took place in 2013.
Gannon University vs. the University of Iowa
Gannon University put in major miles last year and will be up against a powerhouse school, the University of Iowa.
All Tournament
Individual riders are also competing to be a part of the All-Tournament Team. The following team members have ridden the most miles throughout the overall tournament:
- Pat Mog – Schoolcraft College – 640 miles
- John King – Houghton College – 540 miles
- Mark Zajicek – Carnegie Mellon University – 315 miles
- Thomas Marshall – University of South Dakota – 290 miles
- Tyler Barry – SUNY Oswego – 242 miles
- Stephanie Omlin – SUNY Binghamton – 234 miles
- Christine Lehman-Engledow – University of Iowa – 217 miles
- Tamara Wrone – Schoolcraft College – 211 miles
- Joey Wilmot – Houghton College – 210 miles
- Pat Skeate – Carthage College – 207 miles
- Brendan McLaughlin – Marist College – 203 miles
- Branden Kitchen – Gannon University – 196 miles
- Mark Valentino – Marist College – 196 miles
- Charles Whitehouse – Saint Mary’s College of CA – 193 miles
- James Gartner – Carnegie Mellon University – 190 miles
- Jennifer Deasy – Saint Mary’s College of CA – 182 miles
- Tyler Prochnow – Carthage College – 170 miles
- Jonathan Hicks – Valparaiso University – 160 miles
- Sam Quiat – Carthage College – 159 miles
- M Burkey – University of Iowa – 154 miles
- Don Henry – Gannon University – 152 miles
- Billy Smythe – Schoolcraft College – 150 miles
- Abby Quinn – Gannon University – 144 miles
- Christopher Genovese – Carnegie Mellon University – 141 miles
- Michael Waldyke – Schoolcraft College – 138 miles
So far, 1,612 riders have ridden a combined 27,153 miles and burned over 1,000,000 calories! Tune into the Electric Eight round of the Fall Frenzy from October 20–21 to see who moves forward, getting even closer to the championship title and the legendary Golden Spokes trophy!
For more information about the 2015 Expresso Fall Frenzy Tournament, please contact Marketing Manager at Interactive Fitness Marisa Penkauskas.