Sept. 13, 2010

Photo Gallery: 2010 River Hawk Games

The UMass Lowell Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) hosted the Third Annual River Hawk Games on Cushing Field on Sunday afternoon. The event saw 250 student-athletes participate in a giant game of "Shipwreck," a version of the "Longest Relay" and a "Champions' Tug-O-War," followed by a barbeque.

The event kicked off with Shipwreck on Cushing Field, led by Associate Athletic Director Joan Lehoullier, which is similar to Simon Says with specific actions for small groups of people. The winners of this event were Vanessa Kent (field hockey), Chelsea Gillies (field hockey) and Sarah Bennett (women's basketball).

"These kids are competitive, so the stakes seem to get higher each year, as do the bragging rights of the winning individuals and team," Lehoullier said. "It's a great way to kick off our year and this year we used the event to kick off our Soaring with Pride campaign, as well."

The Longest Relay consisted of various stations around the Cushing Field Complex, including sack, eight-legged and wheelbarrow races, egg relays, a crab walk, water balloon toss, ball trolley, football throw, puzzles and a pie eating contest. This leg of the afternoon was captured by the green team.

On the men's side, cross country/track and field was the winner of Tug of War, while the field hockey team took home the women's title.

"This is our third annual River Hawk Games and they get better each year," Lehoullier said. "SAAC has worked hard to develop and promote an activity that provides an opportunity for all our student-athletes to come together at the start of the year in a fun and relaxing way."

The competition portion of the afternoon was followed by a barbeque for the participating student-athletes. The relay format for this year's River Hawk Games was based on experiences that Jillian Hadder (volleyball) and Dustin Ramey (baseball) participated in at the NCAA Student-Athlete Development Conference in Orlando, FL in May 2009.

SAAC is committee of student-athletes that meet regularly and plan events to enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting leadership opportunities, protecting student-athlete welfare, fostering a positive student-athlete image and providing educational and community service opportunities.

Last year, the UMass Lowell SAAC raised over $11,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and was the second-highest grossing SAAC in NCAA Division II.