Senior Sam Lilek’s rap won the judges over to win the title of Mr. Whitman. His new sash and crown now sit next to his soccer state championship trophy. Lilek agreed to talk to the Black & White about his victory.

Black & White: Congrats! How did it feel to win and beat out all of the other impressive contestants?

Sam Lilek: Thank you!  It felt great, I was very surprised to win, especially over so many attractive guys.

B&W: What were your expectations coming in?

SL: My expectations coming in were that I would be able to hang out with some cool guys but definitely not to win.  I don’t think anyone felt particularly competitive. It was all just for fun.  I thought Sammy Zeisel was going to run away with the title because he is such a stud, and so talented, and so attractive, and such a nice guy and I sort of want to be him.

B&W: What inspired you to make your fishing video?

SL: I was inspired to make a video by the man, the legend: senior Douglas Graebner.  I don’t actually fish — I know, I am a fraud — but I brainstormed a lot of unbelievably stupid things that had to do with fishing and decided to just go ahead and try it.

B&W: Was there a lot of friendship and camaraderie among the contestants?

SL: The camaraderie among the contestants was amazing; we all really gelled together.  Everyone wanted each other to do well and we all supported one another.  We even had some group cheers that probably are a bit inappropriate to be published in Black & White.  One of my favorite parts of the competition was getting to befriend some guys that I hadn’t really talked to before — that’s you, Andrew Dahreddine and Kyle Schliefer.

B&W: You also did a rap with Amol Mehta. Whose idea was that?

SL: The rap with Amol Mehta was actually an interesting story.  Amol is the king of rap. Everyday in math class he would write these long, amazing raps and show them to me — Sorry, Mrs. Wildstrom, rapping is more important than partial derivatives.  I got inspired and ended up writing my fishing rap in math one day and it turned out to be pretty solid.  But I didn’t realize that I would be doing it as part of my act until the morning of Mr. Whitman, so it was a little nerve-wracking to try to memorize it so fast.

B&W: What changes would you recommend for next year?

SL: I thought the entire show was really well put together, but the thing I would change would be allowing the students/audience to vote for their favorite contestant because I think that makes it a bit more interesting.