Sept. 18, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - Penn State Football Uplifting Athletes' Penn State Lift For Life® will be featured Saturday on Big Ten Football Saturday Pre-Game Show, presented by Suzuki ATVs on the Big Ten Network.
The program airs from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. and will be followed by the Penn State-Temple game from Beaver Stadium at 12 p.m. For cable or satellite TV subscribers that receive the Big Ten Network, go to http://www.bigtennetwork.com/gamefinder/index.html to find the channel airing the game.
The Big Ten Network had a crew at last July's Penn State Lift for Life to conduct interviews and shoot video of the popular event.
Penn State Lift for Life was created in 2003 by then current Nittany Lion student-athletes Scott Shirley, Damone Jones and Dave Costlow after Shirley learned that his father, Don, was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer. Over the past six years, Penn State Football Uplifting Athletes' and Penn State Lift For Life® have raised more than $300,000 for kidney cancer patients and to raise awareness of the disease.
Approximately $75,000 has been raised by Uplifting Athletes, Inc. in 2007-08, whose fiscal year ends in September. The total includes contributions from the 2008 Lift For Life® event. The organization's mission is to raise awareness and funds for rare diseases such as kidney cancer as well as to provide a professional enrichment program for the college football student-athlete.
A record total of 96 Nittany Lion football student-athletes tested their strength and endurance on July 11 in an 11-event strength and conditioning challenge in front of several thousand fans, friends and family, who enjoyed the new fan-friendly Lift For Life® layout in Holuba Hall.
The Lift For Life® event is a strength and conditioning challenge that tests the mental and physical endurance of the student-athlete. Athletes are put through a challenging gauntlet of 11 exercises ranging from the traditional bench and leg presses to the less conventional giant tire flip and iron cross.
With the contributions from Lift For Life®, more than $300,000 has been raised since 2003 by members of the Penn State football team to aid in the fight against the disease. More than 30,000 Americans are afflicted with kidney cancer each year.
Twenty-four four-person teams competed in 11 events designed to test mental and physical toughness. The exercises for the competitors ranged from the bench press to carrying 100-lb. plates to the giant tire flip.
The winning Lift For Life® team was comprised of quarterback Daryll Clark (Youngstown, Ohio), linebacker Josh Hull (Millheim), tight end Greg Miskinis (Lewistown) and tight end Mickey Shuler (Enola).
The Nittany Lion football team organizes all aspects of the event, with Brett Brackett (Lawrenceville, N.J.), Jesse Alfreno (Grove City) and Patrick Mauti (Mandeville, La.) primarily heading the effort, along with Tyler Ahrenhold (Blue Bell), Brennan Coakley (Newtown, Conn.), Ryan Gmerek (Houtzdale), Kevion Latham (Greensboro, N.C.), Josh Matzkin (Tampa, Fla.), Doug Rheam and Anthony Scirrotto (West Deptford, N.J.), former Nittany Lion and event co-founder Scott Shirley and Deloris Brobeck.
For more information about the Penn State Football Uplifting Athletes, Penn State Lift For Life® or to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit http://www.upliftingathletes.org or contact Brobeck at 814-865-1946 during business hours. Uplifting Athletes, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that operates as a national charter and serves as a uniting force to help change the perception of rare diseases.