Most college freshman celebrate the end of their first year in college by drinking a few beers, packing up their rooms and preparing for a summer of freedom (or low-wage employment). For the plebes at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, they scale a 21-foot monument covered in 200 pounds of lard and replace a hat placed on its peak.

The annual tradition that dates back to 1940 took place yesterday, and it took 19-year-old Andrew Craig over two hours to get to the top of the Herndon Monument and replace the first-year student’s “Dixie cup” hat with a midshipman’s cover. Craig’s climb was faster than the 2011 time of two hours 41 minutes, but five minutes slower than the 2010 climb. The fastest ascent happened in 1991, when a plebe climbed to the top in under 45 minutes.