KU Students Celebrate Stop Day at Kansas Boathouse

May 11, 2010

LAWRENCE, Kan. – More than 300 University of Kansas student-athletes came together on stop day eve to throw the first ever Boathouse Beach Bash Blowout Bonanza – also known as B5 – on May 6 at the Kansas Boathouse and Burcham Park in Lawrence.

The party was created by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as an end of the year celebration. Even with all the planning, B5 exceeded expectations as one of the best events of the year.

“It was a great opportunity to meet some of the student-athletes on other teams,” Kansas football player Alonso Rojas said. “We challenged some of the softball girls to a whiffle ball game. I forgot how awesome whiffle ball was – it was a really good time!”

On a perfect Thursday evening, KU student-athletes filled the Kansas Boathouse Lawn and Burcham Park with lawn games, music, an ice cream sundae station, PS3 video game tournaments and all they could eat barbeque and burritos.

“It was really neat to be a part of the group that planned all of this, and then see it become much better than what we had hoped for,” said KU softball freshman Alex Jones. “It was like a big icebreaker. I was able to meet and talk to people that I had seen everyday without really meeting.”

The Jayhawk SAAC began planning for B5 in late February. They also filmed a promotional video, found here: tinyurl.com/whatisb5, and handed out Baywatch themed fliers to all the student-athletes. While both the annual Welcome Back Barbeque in August and JayRock talent show in January are Kansas Athletics staple events, student-athletes wanted the opportunity to celebrate the end of the academic school year. B5 was a celebration indeed, one that will continue for years to come.