Sunseeker returns to campus Monday morning
July 26, 2003
KALAMAZOO -- Fresh from its top-five finish in the world's longest cross-country solar-car race, Western Michigan University's Sunseeker will return to campus at 10:30 a.m. Monday, July 28, stopping for a brief cruise through downtown Kalamazoo.
The Sunseeker team plans to drive the solar racecar west along Kalamazoo Avenue to Stadium Drive, then up Michigan Avenue, past WMU's Bernhard Center and Seibert Administration to the Promenade area at the center of the campus. There, they will be greeted by members of the campus community, friends and family.
The Sunseeker team is returning from California after capturing fifth place in the biennial American Solar Challenge, a national event in which 20 teams from some of the top college and universities in the nation competed. Using only solar power, the teams raced along 2,300 miles of Route 66 from Chicago to Claremont, Calif. The University of Missouri-Rolla won the race. WMU was the only Michigan school to have its car qualify for the race this year.
Besides the fifth-place finish, the team is bringing home five major ASC awards, including a pre-race award as the Inspectors' Choice, which was presented after qualifying events in Chicago, and four post-race awards presented Thursday, July 24, at a final awards ceremony.
The Sunseeker team took the top prize in the "best design" category as well as the team sportsmanship award, an award for having the "most improved" entry and a second-place trophy for speed in the final leg of the race.
Kalamazoo-area residents will have an additional opportunity to see Sunseeker and meet members of the team, when the car is on display Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 2 and 3, at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Mich.
Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 269 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu