The Omnibus

Issue date: 5/4/07 Section: In the Spotlight

Media Credit: Zach Henderson Participants of the 2007 Relay for Life look on as team members walk laps around the indoor track in Blair Intramural Gym.

Southwest Baptist University held its third annual Relay For Life Friday, April 27. The event started at 7 p.m. Friday night and ended at 7 a.m. Saturday morning. The evening was filled with events and games as well as the walking relay.
Planning for this year's Relay For Life began in September. Sophomores Emily Shepard and Abby Priester were co-chairs who led the event planning. Twelve other SBU students helped as well as the American Cancer Society (ACS) staff partner Kimberly McCracken and the SBU staff partner Zach Waters, director of student activities.
"I attended a Relay in my hometown, because a friend was on the committee, even without really knowing what it was all about," said Shepard "Throughout the night, I began to see how big of an impact ACS and Relay had made, and there was a deep interest to know more about it. When I came to SBU, I saw their table advertisement at Welcome Week and signed up for more information.
"My freshman year, I was in charge of cancer survivorship on the planning committee and became passionate about spreading hope to those affected by this horrible disease. After Relay last year, I was asked to replace Angie Wright's position as co-chair, since she was stepping down."
This year, 13 teams participated from Beasley Hall, Leslie Hall, the Athletic Training and Physical Therapy departments and Student Government Association.
The focus of Relay For Life is the walking relay. Each team must have one person walking on the track during the entire night, symbolizing how cancer never sleeps.
The relay was kicked off with a survivor lap around the track.
"The survivor lap at the beginning [was my favorite part]," said freshman Adam Plagge. "They had cancer survivors walk the first lap, while we all cheered for them, to kick the night off."
There were plenty of other events going on all night. One of the most enjoyed events was the Queen of the Relay. Several men and one little boy, Austin Priester, dressed as women and went around collecting money. The man who collected the most money won the contest. Priester was the winner of Queen of the Relay.

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