Raceday 2025 is Coming! WRCT 88.3 FM Preview Broadcast Tonight at 6 PM

WRCT BROADCAST

Tune in tonight at 6 PM EDT for a preview of Sweepstakes 2025. Moderated by our long-time play-by-play commentator Will Weiner, current students, and our Rolls Reporter will discuss all things buggy to get you hyped for Raceday.

Introducing our on-air talent:

  • Elena Harllee – She first witnessed buggy as a high school student, when she visited CMU during Raceday 2019 and fell in love with the spot. She joined Apex Buggy as a freshman and was build lead in 2022-2023, where she built Apex’s first forward trike. This year, she leads Sweepstakes as Sweepstakes Chairman. In her words, “The core principle of my role is to make buggy happen, which means I do everything except what the safety chair does. By far my favorite aspect has been getting to know all the the teams and their various characters and struggles. You can find me banging my head against a wall over chores logistics, shaking my fist at Pittsburgh rainclouds, or chatting with teams about what they need to make this year a great one.”
  • Elliot Escalante – He is a current MechE student with a Minor in Military Studies & International Affairs. As Assistant Chair, he tracks rolls, takes meeting notes, and keeps chores in check. Previously SDC.
  • Caity Santiago – She is studying Materials Science and Engineering, with an Additional Major in Biomedical Engineering. She is the Design Competition chair. In her words, “I have the great honor of planning and coordinating our carnival showcase! In addition to that I coordinate and plan design competition. I am most excited to plan the showcase activities. (yay coloring pages!)” Previously Apex.
  • Dan Becerra (2012) – He keeps the wider buggy community informed about the latest happenings in our sport and contributes to building a great Pittsburgh-area buggy alumni community! Previously CIA.

Moderator:

  • Will Weiner (DC’13) – He got into buggy through doing sports broadcasting with WRCT as a freshman at CMU. Somehow, he’s stayed in the play-by-play role for the races ever since. He now lives in nearby Braddock, PA, and runs a company called Xpogo, which manages the top athletes in the sport of extreme pogo sticking, which was a clear next step after buggy.

You can find the broadcast on air locally in Pittsburgh at 88.3 FM or stream it online from wrct.org! Join in the conversation via the BAA’s CMUBuggy Discord (cmubuggy.org/chat). Have any questions for the broadcasters? Ask them in the #wrctracedaypreview channel under Raceday-Specific Channels. You can also send any questions via comments to this post.

After what will be a great conversation, there will only be 17 hours left until Buggy Showcase (Thursday, April 3, 2025, at noon EDT) in Highmark Center – Auxiliary Gym (2nd Floor, Room 265A) . And, don’t forget our Prelims Lead Truck Auction, ending tomorrow night at 9 PM, so get your bids in while you can!

And, if you aren’t a member already, join now to receive this year’s Raceday Preview, featuring MechaJockey! Learn more at cmubuggy.org/membership.

See you on the course!

BAA August 2023 Newsletter is Out!

Hello CMU Buggy Fans,

Raceday 2024 is fast approaching.

Last weekend, the incoming class of 2027+ moved into their dorms. This past week, during Orientation, Buggy organizations showcased their buggies and teams to all of the new students (and the campus community). See this and other photos on our SmugMug.

Buggy orgs showcase buggies in 2023

As the 2023-24 academic year kicks off, the BAA would like to share our newsletter with some key dates to look out for and ways to get involved. There’s also a membership survey and an intro about the new Sweepstakes Advisor inside.

Plus, if you missed this past year’s WRCT Raceday 2023 preview show, you download and listen here.

Stay tuned. Fall rolls are coming soon.

See you on the course!

Raceday is Coming! WRCT 88.3 FM Preview Broadcast Tonight at 6 PM

WRCT BROADCAST

Tune in tonight at 6 PM EDT for a preview of Sweepstakes 2023. Moderated by our long-time play-by-play commentator Will Weiner, current students will discuss all things buggy to get you hyped for Raceday.

Introducing our on-air talent:

  • Elena Harllee – She first witnessed buggy as a high school student, when she visited CMU during Raceday 2019 and fell in love with the spot. She joined Apex Buggy as a freshman and was build lead in 2022-2023, where she built Apex’s first forward trike. This year, she is a part of Sweepstakes as the Design Comp chairman, while still maintaining her status as an active mechanic for Apex.

  • Ethan Husted – He is a current MechE masters student and resident old person on CIA. He held a number of roles in the org from 2018-2023, including the hill 5 pusher dubbed “Long Chungus”, build lead of Kingfisher, chair during the mid-COVID RD that never wasn’t, and reluctant head mechanic. He is now obsolete and has thus been allowed to leave the yellow tent to enter the broadcasting tent. He will be moving to Baltimore this summer to work on medical devices at Key Tech.

  • Julia “Juju” Nieto – A PiKA driver and this year’s Buggy Book Chairmen, she is a School of Drama grad (dramaturgy), currently working on her MEIM at CMU’s Heinz College. In her words, “Buggy has been one of the best things I could have ever gotten out of my time here. What I thought would be a short-lived attempt at becoming an athlete, quickly turned into an unexpected gift. Over the past four years, I have developed a deep love for this sport and a deep admiration for those crazy enough to be involved in it. Being able to make this year’s Buggy Book was a joy and in the words of Jon Hua, ‘the jacket is always a plus.'”

  • Elizabeth Zapanta – A buggy legacy herself, she has been watching buggy for as long as she can remember. The first-ever Sweepstakes Marketing and Communications Chair, she is excited to help coordinate and participate in this year’s broadcast.

Moderator:

  • Will Weiner (DC’13) – He got into buggy through doing sports broadcasting with WRCT as a freshman at CMU. Somehow, he’s stayed in the play-by-play role for the races ever since. He now lives in nearby Braddock, PA, and runs a company called Xpogo, which manages the top athletes in the sport of extreme pogo sticking, which was a clear next step after buggy.

You can find the broadcast on air locally in Pittsburgh at 88.3 FM or stream it online from wrct.org! Join in the conversation via the BAA’s CMUBuggy Discord (cmubuggy.org/chat). Have any questions for the broadcasters? Ask them in the #wrctracedaypreview channel under Raceday-Specific Channels. You can also send any questions via comments to this post.

After what will be a great conversation, there will only be 17 hours left until Buggy Showcase (Thursday, April 13, 2023, at noon EDT) in Weigand Gym in the CUC. And, don’t forget our Prelims Lead Truck Auction, ending tomorrow night at 11 PM, so get your bids in while you can!

And, if you aren’t a member already, join now to receive this year’s Raceday Preview featuring MechaJockey! Learn more at cmubuggy.org/membership.

See you on the course!