DATE: Saturday, September 13, 1997          TAG: 9709130352

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KIA MORGAN ALLEN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   89 lines

HERE'S MUD IN YOUR EYE! SOME CLEAN DIRTY FUN COMES TO VIRGINIA WESLEYAN

Students trudged up and down seven sloppy lanes of sludge while dirt oozed from their ears and nearly everywhere else.

The arena looked like a pool of spongy lumps of chunky chips and the participants resembled M&Ms on a milk chocolate mission. And their colorful clothes turned dark faster than the candies melt in mouths.

Faculty, staff and students at Virginia Wesleyan Collegegot down and dirty Friday for the second annual ``Outrageous Olympics'' on the college's campus.

The event, open to all students who cared to get dumped in dirt for the day, had Olympics-style games and six teams of 12 courageous muck athletes who banded together and competeed to win, no matter how dirty.

``I was dragged out of bed to do this by my R.A. (resident assistant),'' said 19-year-old Carly Daniels.

``I grumpily came out because how often do you get to play in mud at a certain age. So I said I'll play in mud and have a good time.''

Once the Olympic torch was lit by a soiled student, men tore off their shirts and took their places in the dirt. Some did belly flops while others made the most of messing up the ladies' hair by lacing their locks with mud.

A couple of guys got a little rough and wrestled in the mucky pen. But 22-year-old Melanie Ludwig had this advice for any ladies who dared to take a try: ``If you're a girl and you land the wrong way . . . it's bad.''

Paige Morton, an 18-year-old freshman, sat on the sidelines.

``I feel like I'll end up getting thrown, I'm a freshman,'' she said. ``I'm just going to scope it out.''

Meanwhile, the first race was under way with students in flippers and a life jacket slushing up the tracks through two truckloads of mud to tag teammates who would make their way back down until the last person completed the relay.

Teammates cheered each other on, while many made mud balls and hurled them at their friends, pretending it was a winter day.

``Come on, Lindsey,'' yelled a teammate while Lindsey hobbled along in webbed feet.

``Whe-e-e-w! This is awesome!,'' said Matt Hoover, 19, whose team, ``Village One,'' came in as No. 1 in the first event.

Even the school's president, William T. Greer Jr., took part in the messy fun. With bare feet, a white shirt and blue shorts, Greer joined the faculty team a little after the games began. Surprisingly to some, he rolled with the students, competing with a generation half his age, and ready to put ``the prez'' through the ringer.

Greer was ready, too. During the hurdle event, he slid through rings, and did a 360 rotation before repeating his act and tagging his teammate. ``It was great,'' he said. ``This was a lot of fun and just a great way to begin the school year. This is what it's all about. I wouldn't even want this job if I couldn't do stuff like this.''

Students stayed for hours plotting, planning and playing such games as carrying a ball between two mates' bellies with no touching and traveling back and forth to fill a ladle with water and dump it into a cup until it reached the top. In this event they sported red fire caps while the song: ``Burn, baby, burn'' blared in the background.

And with any game there are strategies:

``Left, left, left, right, left. When the other team was speeding we felt the need to increase and squeeze the thighs,'' said 21-year-old Molly Long during the Chinese Shuffle game, in which three teammates carried a stick between their legs.

And there are politics:

``How did they get DQ'd (disqualified) and still get 50 points? You're supposed to be campaigning for us!'' said Ludwig, confronting a referee about another team's cheating antics.

``It's a fun event for students, faculty and athletes of Virginia Weselyan,'' said Chris LeMore, 22, who decided to keep his nose clean. ``I would have done it, but it's too messy.''

Dirt dribbled down participants' legs and off their clothing, and formed hardened deposits on their bodies.

Aaron Well, 21, knows the troubles of trying to come clean. ``You have dirt coming out of your nose and ears for two weeks,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot

William Harrell, assistant to the dean for campus life, at right in

the top photo, pulls for the faculty during the rope tug. Behind him

is Linda Tisdale, the college's director of health services. Smiling

and taking a quick break, in lower photo, is mud-coated junior

Kristen Kerwin.

Photo

BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot

Students and faculty play and get grungy in the second annual mud

games at Virginia Wesleyan College. Even the school's president,

William T. Greer Jr., got down and dirty. ``It was great,'' he said.

``I wouldn't even want this job if I couldn't do stuff like this.''