Nine teams of four students each gathered in the Monarch cafeteria Thursday night to partake in a Monarch tradition: The Thanksgiving Throwdown. The Throwdown is essentially an eating competition.

Although usually teams compete over piles of Thanksgiving food, this year there was a twist. Nicknamed the “Grande Throwdown,” the nine teams competed in a qualifying round which involved eating copious amounts of Taco Bell. The first two teams to scarf down four burritos, two tacos and two Nacho Supremes would move on to the final round.

The first team to finish their feast was seniors Quinn Farrell, Dylan Glazer, Mikey Merrett and Noah Nellessen. Following close behind, juniors Kaleb Bryant-Jamison, Reid Hobbs, Kody Mommaerts and Will Cordell took second, and both teams advanced to the final round.

Although the first round seemed tough, the teams were about to face a belly-busting challenge that they had never seen before. “They had to eat a full Thanksgiving feast,” said senior student council member Mackenzie Bloom. How much food, you ask?“It was a full chicken, a huge bowl of mashed potatoes, a can of cranberry sauce, two jars of gravy, and a massive pumpkin pie,” described Bloom.

The competition was fierce, and with nauseated looks on their faces, the teams shoveled handful after handful of food into their mouths. “Last year’s winners finished in under one minute and forty seconds, let’s see if you can beat that!” challenged student council administrator Tony Tolbert at the start of the final round. Nellessen even resorted to drinking gravy straight from the jar in an effort to take the lead. After  nearly eleven minutes of eating, the student council members running the event ended the competition, although neither team had finished the food completely. After a full evaluation by the members of student council, the team of seniors was announced as the winners.

After a rough loss, Bryant-Jamison described the experience. “I ate about half of a chicken, half of a pumpkin pie, and I tried to drink some gravy but that did wasn’t happening. I may never eat again.”

“Yeah, that stuff did not go down well,” added Hobbs.

After their victory, the senior teams gathered around for a celebratory senior chant. The teams waddled out of the cafeteria, full to the brim and looking exhausted. “You just ruined Thanksgiving for me!” said Merrett with a smirk as he walked off.