Three teams from Paul Koba's physics class at Salisbury High School gathered Dec. 3 with their turkey toss machines hoping to break the record of 70 yards in the annual turkey toss competition.

Collin Moyer and Makenna Lenover had the first entry made of wood. Moyer said they spent about five hours collecting the wood and about 20 hours assembling their machine with a total cost of $20.

The second team consisted of Mike Palmer, Sam DeFrank, Ben Heydt and Andrew Boehme. Their wooden machine took approximately three weeks to build for a total cost of $350.

The third team included Andrew Youseff, Greg Fry, Lucas Vitalos, Chase Rodgers and Dennis Bonner. Their red and orange machine took approximately a month and a half to build for a cost of $380.

The competition, usually held on the last school day before Thanksgiving, was rained out by in-clement weather and rescheduled for Dec. 3.

Koba said he was impressed with this year's entries and said the annual event is much-anticipated by his physics class students.

"It not only teaches the students how to apply the simple-machine principles they are learning in class, it also provides an opportunty for recognition in an area other than school sports," Koba said.

Koba keeps the turkey frozen at his home from year to year to level the field for those trying to break the record.

In the end, the team of Palmer, DeFrank, Heydt and Boehme broke the record and won the competition with a toss reaching 90 yards.

Press photo

by Debbie Galbraith