Several student leaders from a variety of campus groups competed last night at Findlay Commons in a fierce gauntlet of culinary skills to see who could obtain the title of Master Chef.

The competition involved the teams creating sandwiches, entrées and desserts and presenting them to a panel of judges. Students watching could place their votes and had a chance to win prizes.

Scott Sherbine, an intern for Residence Life, said he organized the competition as a final project and was influenced by cooking competition shows.

As the event set off, the contestants hurried to the salad station to pile up on bread, lettuce and cheese for the sandwich round. The team of Nick Stathes, Undergraduate Student Government (USG) president, and Pat Daley, USG vice president, hurried to finish its creation, which was in the form of a face.

Daley said the strategy was "to be creative."

"Everyone's going to love it," he said.

After the sandwich round was over and judges started to test the creations, the entrée round began.

Members of Team Bananas Kevin Rudy, a Blue Band drum major, and P.J. Maierhofer, a Blue Sapphire, were busy assembling their dish. Rudy was carving into a potato to prepare a side dish.

"I'm trying to cut a potato and stuff it with bacon bits, cheese and sour cream," Rudy said.

Maierhofer said she was optimistic about the team's dish. "I think it will be very good," Maierhofer said.

As the entrée round came to an end, Kahlina Frey (freshman-animal sciences) voted for the Dreaming of DDR team. "I thought [the dish] was very well presented, and they mixed the colors up well," Frey said.

During the dessert round, the contestants piled on ice cream, cookies and fruit in hopes of winning over the judges. "We just kept putting stuff on and that's what we came up with," Daley told emcee and executive chef Bill Laychur.

As the chefs anxiously awaited for the judges' final results, Milton Newberry, a member of the Dreamers of Alpha Phi Mu and part of the Dreaming of DDR team, said he was a little nervous coming into the competition and while he was cooking, but had a good time. "It was exhilarating," Newberry said.

However, the Stone Sisters team -- Jackie Herweg, Tina Clabbers and Maggie Fesenmaier -- all presidents of sororities, clinched the titles of Master Chefs. "This is truly an honor," Clabbers told Laychur.