As the game clock struck high noon on Saturday, May 5, for the first time in 42 years the University of St. Thomas Chemistry Club met the Pre-Health Professions Club on the gridiron for possession of the Little Brown Erlenmeyer.
To the victors goes the Little Brown Erlenmeyer. On the shoulders of graduating biochemistry major Mikhail Klimstra and graduating chemistry major Tyler Kitzman is Chemistry Club president Tommy Gentle.
Based on the Little Brown Jug trophy at the center of the football rivalry between the universities of Minnesota and Michigan, the Little Brown Erlenmeyer is a piece of laboratory glassware that was the coveted prize awarded prior to the 1970s to the winner of the annual flag football game between the Chemistry Club and the Aesculapian Club (now the Pre-Health Professions Club).
Saturday’s game on the south campus green behind the Brady Educational Center marked a renewal of the tradition by 20 faculty and students.
Chemistry professor Joe Brom, who as a St. Thomas student had played in the game, officiated over the interclub clash.
Wet and sloppy field conditions suggested that both teams might have to rely on their ground game, but both teams went to the air nonetheless. For both sides this game plan proved marginally effective, and those who had anticipated a low-scoring defensive slogfest were not disappointed.
In the end, it was a one-point margin of victory (8-7) in riveting sudden-death overtime that gave Chemistry Club custody of the glittering glassware for this year.
