a suitable projectile for the planned first firing of the war machine. Students eventually found "a 103-pound granite boulder" suitable for the purpose, which they named "Gaul Blaster." On March 15, 1966, the entire school, including parents, administrators and alumni, led by Mr. Barcio, marched out to the field in front of the school to fire the catapult. National media was present to record the event. Following a dramatic drum roll and bugle call by the Marian College bugle corp, the students fired the machine. The wooden bow sprang forward, emitting "an ominous cracking sound." Instead of flying 100 yards through the air, Gaul Blaster rolled pitifully off the bow, landing three feet in front of the catapult. Rather than deeming the event a failure, Barcio designated three feet as the first official modern world catapult record. More media coverage Over the eleven years of the National Catapult Contest, the event was covered multiple times by national news media outlets. In addition to the Huntley-Brinkley Report, it was covered by Patrick Trese, a sports reporter for NBC, and appeared on NBC News First Tuesday, hosted by Sander Vanocur, in 1969, and 1970, as well as on the NBC Chronolog series in 1971, and 1972. David Dortch and Mary Hyde, winners of the first and fifth National Catapult Contests, respectively, appeared on the American Broadcasting Company program To Tell the Truth. Sports Illustrated covered the National Catapult Contest twice, once in a brief article in 1970, and again in a full-length feature article titled "First among Those Who Cast Stones," written by Bruce Newman. The Catpult Contest was also covered in Seventeen Magazine in May 1975, in an article titled "Catapult Fever...Hurling Boulders Is the Latest Craze." Chronology March 15, 1966 Mars I (bentwood bow) built on the former Park School campus on Colds Spring Road in the basement of the gym. The idea evolved in Bernard Barcio’s nine-member Latin II Class at the suggestion of David Leve (’68). Fired on the Ides of March, and covered by local media and by NBC producer Pat Trese, whose award-winning footage was shown on National News that same evening. A cracked bow allows the Gaul Blaster (rock) to only go 3 feet. Members of the class included John Katterjohn (Phillopos), David Leve (Oinophilos), Geoff Reynolds (Peracles), Mike Ryan (Alexandros), Andy Servaas (Odysseus), Russ Staines (Hector), John Townsend (Eros), Richard Vonnegut (Heracles), and Laurel