July 11, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" Thanks to a late rally in the tug of war battle, the Nittany Lion offense edged the defense, 31-30, in a six-event, head-to-head strength and conditioning competition to benefit the Kidney Cancer Association through Penn State's chapter of Uplifting Athletes.
For the fifth-straight year, the funds raised at Lift For Life were on pace to reach new heights following another superb event on Saturday. With donation figures still to be finalized, the 2015 Uplifting Athletes fundraising efforts have lifted the 13-year total well above the $1 million mark. Fans can still make a Lift For Life donation by visiting the Penn State Uplifting Athletes donation page HERE.
A sun-splashed morning and a crowd of approximately 2,500 fans greeted the Nittany Lions at the Penn State Lacrosse Field. The upperclassmen participated in the head-to-head competition pitting the offense against the defense. Simultaneously, the true freshmen ran in a mini Lift for Life kids clinic with more than 100 participants on the turf at the lacrosse field.
"This is just a culmination of a lot of hard work," senior linebacker and Uplifting Athletes President Ben Kline said. "Guys have spent all year raising money, executing events, creating new ideas for fundraising, and today was an opportunity to celebrate it."
The Nittany Lions put on a show for the fans in attendance with an exhibition in six strenuous events. The competition featured eight rotations of one-on-one battles in the 225-pound bench press, 400-pound "farmer" hold, obstacle course relay, deadlift, sled push/pull relay and tire flip.
The final tally (31-30, Offense) was based on head-to-head victories in each individual rep and the tug of war competition. Some of the notable performances of the day on the bench press included senior defensive tackle Tarow Barney's 34-rep effort at 225 pounds. Junior offensive lineman Brian Gaia tallied 33 reps, while senior defensive tackle Anthony Zettel notched 31 reps.
The "farmer" hold turned into a fan favorite. A new event for 2015, the players held 200 pounds in each hand in a race against the clock to see which player could outlast the other. Matt Baney, Paris Palmer, Trevor Williams, Matt Zanellato, Brandon Bell and Austin Johnson were among the individual winners in the "farmer" hold.
When the six-event rotation wrapped up, the Nittany Lions moved in front of the fans for the tug of war finale. Trailing by nine tallies (25-16) heading into the final stage of competition, the offense scored three of the four five-point battles to claim a 31-30 victory.
Despite the defense leading for most of the afternoon in the six field events, the offense will take some friendly bragging rights into the rest of the summer after taking three tug of war battles to clinch the crown as the overall winners at the 2015 Lift for Life.
Following the workout, the Nittany Lions met with the loyal Nittany Lion fans and signed autographs.
"We have the best fans in the nation," running back Akeel Lynch said. "For so many people to be out here on a day when we are just working out in front them, it just shows you how much support we have. It's pretty cool."
Assistant Athletic Director for Performance Enhancement Dwight Galt and his staff had a blast at the Lift for Life event. He applauded the player-run Uplifting Athletes organization for its countless hours of prep work to put on another successful event.
"The No. 1 goal today was to raise $100,000. That was the No. 1 thing. They couldn't control that, but that was really important to our guys," said Galt. "The No. 2 thing ââ'¬" we wanted to have fun. The guys have eight weeks in the bank right now (for summer workouts). They are crushing it right now...Then the third thing, we wanted them to compete and put on a good show. And I think we were 3-for-3. This was a big time success today."
The 13th Lift For Life was again a tremendous success and fundraiser for kidney cancer, largely thanks to countless hours of preparation from the Uplifting Athletes group led by Kline.
Penn State begins preseason practice on Aug. 6.
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