“Sold! For $4,600!”

As the auctioneer’s gavel fell on the first auctioned number, Residence Hall Association members in charge of the 37th annual Martha’s Marathon, leaped up and cheered.

“That was the highest bid in the history of Martha’s Marathon and that made the night for me – it was unbelievably awesome,” RHA President Noel Frame said.

The Friday night event raised a record-breaking $44,738 for housing scholarships, the most in Martha’s Marathon history, Frame said.

Despite a mix-up that caused an extra number to be auctioned, organizers called the event a success.

Three freshman women purchased the number two housing lottery pick, the most expensive number of the night.

The number one housing selection number was raffled off and won by sophomore Runjit Chandra, ending a three-year streak of freshmen winners.

When the name was drawn Chandra, a Madison Hall RHA representative, began to jump up and down.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! That’s me!” he said.

Chandra said he only purchased one ticket for the drawing. It was picked out of approximately 1,350 total tickets. He plans to live in a Guthridge Hall single.

RHA President Noel Frame said there is no rule forbidding RHA representatives from buying tickets.

Freshman Darcy Cachron expressed her excitement at getting the first auctioned number but said that she was not surprised to get the number.

“We made up our minds to go for the first one, and we got it,” Cachron said.

When asked how much she and her roommates were willing to spend, she said, “We didn’t really know; we just decided to see how it went.”

The girls planed to pick a City Hall triple.

Many of the top housing numbers went to freshmen this year, possibly a result of the new campus policy that requires rising sophomores to live on-campus next year, unless they have filled out an exemption form.

Freshman Saquib Chaudhri and his roommate placed the winning bid on the eighth selection place. They bid $4,100, a higher price than was paid for the fourth slot, which went for $3,950.

When asked why he and his roommate would pay more for a lower selection place, he said, “Well, you just get really nervous, and you think ‘Oh my God, I’m not going to get a number.’ Plus my roommate is paying for most of it.”

His roommate spent much of the auction on his cell phone with his parents.

“At first they said that they wouldn’t pay that much for a number, but then, by the end, they changed their minds. I bid on the next number,” Chaudhri said.

Winners of the auction and the raffle went to choose exact rooms in-person on Saturday, while the rest of the student body will only select the type of room and building online. Seniors and juniors participated in the lottery Sunday and sophomores are set to school March 10.

“Frankly, I think the fact that people can choose a certain room, and that they get to do everything in person is a big incentive in bidding this year,” Frame said.

In addition to the housing numbers, other items such as weekend getaways and lunches with University officials were auctioned. The items that sold for the most money were sets of tickets to Commencement and the Monumental Celebration. They sold for $200 to $500 each.

There was also a silent auction that offered items such as old residence hall flags and sports memorabilia.

At the end of the event, a problem arose when it was discovered that the auctioneer had auctioned 10 housing selection numbers off. He was supposed to auction off nine numbers, since the first had been raffled.

The mix-up caused a total of 11 numbers instead to be given out.

CLLC agreed to honor all 11 numbers, which added $4,100 to the total money raised.

The mix-up will not disrupt the selection process for any other students, since Martha’s numbers are separate from the random pool of numbers allotted, Frame said.