By: Mike Hayes Staff Writer

Montgomery College athletics were honored on Friday during the school’s first Midnight Madness event in years. The Fall sports teams, all of whom are ranked in the top ten in the nation in their respective sport, were congratulated for their stellar performances so far in the season, but the guests of honor were the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Before the event started on Friday night, there was a tailgate party at the Rockville campus from 2-4 p.m.. The tailgate event had hot, grilled food, free cake, raffle giveaways and a D.J. who played everything ranging from today’s pop hits, to old school rap, to D.C. funk and go-go from the ‘80s and ‘90s. All attendees were clearly having a great time, and many stayed for the entire event.

Midnight Madness began at 7:30 p.m., and everyone in attendance was passionately cheering on the student athletes, from the entertaining introductions until the final events of the night, which included knockout games and a half-court-shooting contest. The event’s Master of Ceremonies did a phenomenal job of adding excitement to an already extravagant event.

Both events were parts of recent initiatives by Montgomery College president DeRionne Pollard, to help get MC students more involved with the school’s athletics.

Jacki Zappala, of Service, Outreach and Support, said of the tailgate, “We wanted to put the spotlight on student athletes. Having Midnight Madness pulled into it would be a great way to bring together students and student athletes.”

S.O.S., along with MCTV, MC Communications and many student workers, helped organize Midnight Madness, and their hard work certainly paid off as all attendees showed excitement throughout the night.

This was not MC’s first Midnight Madness event, but Promotions, Marketing, and Events Coordinator Erica Lloyd said that these events will be happening more consistently in the future.

The next major event for MC-Rockville basketball, aside from their regularly scheduled games, will be the Battle of 270. The game will take place on January 14 at the Verizon Center, in Washington, D.C., and will be against the MC-Germantown Gryphons. Lloyd hopes that students will continue to support MC athletics and attend next year’s Midnight Madness.