More than 30,000 people packed the Carrier Dome Wednesday for the Duke University vs. Syracuse University basketball game. Among those 30,000 was Katelyn Caza — one of the first students in line to secure front row seats.

“As more people started to arrive at the Dome, the energy and excitement just kept building,” said Caza, a senior chemical engineering major, said in an email. “Every time I turned around to look back up at the student section, the sea of orange just kept getting bigger and bigger.”

Caza and three of her friends had been camping out in front the dome for three days leading up to the game. Wearing a simple lightweight windbreaker jacket, Caza was thankful Syracuse’s unpredictable 50-degree weather made her nights huddled in a tent on the dome’s cool concrete exterior more enjoyable.

Caza is no rookie — she has camped out both her freshman and sophomore years for the Duke game. She said the energy the Carrier Dome creates during these games is what makes camping out worthwhile.

“There was so much noise and excitement in every corner of the dome. It’s hard to put in words how it felt being surround by over 30,000 Syracuse fans yelling and screaming as loud as they could,” Caza said in an email.

Living just 45 minutes north of Syracuse, Caza’s basement is painted with SU’s signature blue and orange colors and is filled with memorabilia.

Caza may “bleed” orange more than other students. Although any student sitting in the student section at sporting events is part of the Otto’s Army organization, Caza is on the executive board and serves as the events officer.

“I help schedule general body meetings and organize events like our Otto’s Army flag football tournament that raised money for the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation as well as work with the Schine Box Office to distribute tickets to students for away football and basketball games,” Caza said in an email.

Caza said the executive board is currently trying to plan a three-on-three basketball tournament in time for March Madness.

Caza organized the entire camping out process for the Duke game by making sure the students who had chosen to spend three nights in tents in preparation for the game were given an exact number in the line.

“It got a lot more hectic as more and more groups wanted to be put on the list,” she said in an email. “We did the list checks more often to make sure every group had someone there.”

Caza described the sweet feeling she had after watching SU play Duke while sitting in the student section and could not have asked for a better ending.

“This game was one for the books,” Caza said in an email, “and will definitely be remembered for a long time.”

Published on February 26, 2017 at 8:56 pm

Contact Caroline: caschagr@syr.edu