With a deafening splat, a 600-pound pumpkin exploded with candy on the pavement at UC San Diego, after being flung off the 11th floor of Tioga Hall Friday.
This marked the Annual UCSD Monster Pumpkin Drop, a tradition that's been around for 42 years. In the history of Muir College's Pumpkin Drops, this gourd was one of the most humongous ever thrown, according to UCSD.
Students from the Muir Residents' Council dubbed the sacrificial gourd 'My Lowest Test Score.'
Before being flung from Tioga Hall, the pumpkin was hallowed and stuffed with candy pieces, which students rushed to claim after the gourd exploded.
Each year the splat is measured by the distance that chunks of pumpkin fly away from the explosion point. This year the farthest splat of pumpkin chunks reached 106 feet, far from beating last year's record of 138 feet.
For the sixth consecutive year, the doomed pumpkin was donated by Jon Berndes, a local grower from Alpine. According to UCSD, the pumpkin drop was followed with a Halloween Carnival.
