Panther athletics rally behind Relay for Life Plethora of Middlebury sports teams join community in fight against cancer

Author: James Kerrigan

When Middlebury College sports teams have not been winning championships, they have been making their presence felt through contributions off the field, court and rink. To date, 10 teams are participating in this year's Relay For Life event on April 28-29.

Relay For Life, a fundraising project for the American Cancer Society, defines itself through community contribution. The Web site describes the event's mission: "One day. One night. One community. Your Relay For Life is about celebration, remembrance and hope. By participating, you honor cancer survivors, pay tribute to the lives we've lost to the disease, and raise money to help fight it - all right here in your community." The fundraising event will conclude with an all-night walk-a-thon featuring new, thematic laps, including the BYOB (bring your own bubbles) lap and the electric slide lap.

The athletes will make their way around the track in a variety of ways - but they are unified in their participation. There are 70 teams in all, and three of the top five fundraisers are Middlebury athletic teams. The appropriately named Middlebury Football Tackling Cancer team stands in third place, behind Ova Chicks to the Rescue and Survivors of the Fittest. The football team has raised $4,715, just shy of their ambitious $5,000 goal.

Last year, the softball and football teams combined to raise $10,000. The two teams have already raised $9,500 with the biggest fundraising month forthcoming. But it's not just these two teams making a difference.

Men's lacrosse has collected $2,460. The team has cracked the fundraising rankings - it currently occupies the fifth position. Several other squads have raised over $1,000 including the field hockey team ($1,985), women's squash team ($1,600), the men's soccer team ($1,345) and the swim team ($1,310).

Ross Lieb-Lappen '07, the man in charge of registration, acknowledged the impact of the sports teams: "This year, the teams have gone well beyond everyone's wildest dreams. It seems as though just about every sports team also participates in Relay. With the biggest fundraising month still to come, Middlebury sports teams have already raised over $17,000 for the fight against cancer."

But it's not just dollars that the athletes are contributing - they have personally swarmed to Relay For Life in large numbers. Lieb-Lappen said: "Our three biggest teams in terms of participants are football (43 people), swim team (25) and field hockey (25). That's close to 100 percent participation for each of those teams. It truly says something about the character of athletes here at Middlebury."

Athletes and teams have turned personal experiences and stories into dollars in a truly meaningful manner. For example, second baseman for the softball team, Maura Casey '07 - the kickoff speaker for this year's event - translated a personal story into a team issue. Last year, her father was diagnosed with cancer so the cause became important to her, and ultimately, the team.

Katelyn Cannella '08 has raised an impressive $1,690 and believes it is the team's closeness that inspired action. "[Maura] started up a Relay for Life team and asked us if we would all participate. The softball team is more like a family than a team, so we were all impacted by the news about Maura's father, and wanted to help in any way we could. Everybody knows somebody who has been impacted by cancer, and so on behalf of Maura's father and other family and friends affected, we wanted to try to make a difference."

She continued, "I think that everybody knows somebody who has been affected by cancer, which is why it is a cause that so many people spend time working for." Whether it's an aunt, a classmate, a parent or a dog (Cannella's dog Yankee was recently diagnosed with cancer) the entire community has rallied around Relay For Life.

The Relay For Life experience unites the participating teams. Last year, the softball team had a double header and went immediately from running the bases to walking the track. Cannella describes the chemistry-building event: "We thought that we would walk in shifts, or some would even go back to their rooms to sleep during the night. But we surprised ourselves when we stayed there all night and all morning together, walking the track arm in arm, resting for only about an hour around 5 a.m. These will be some of my favorite memories from Middlebury: spending an amazing night with my best friends for such a worthy cause. I can't imagine anything more important." Neither can the cancer patients and survivors that benefit from their contributions.