The 1,100 students who participated in Friday's Late Night Olympics raised approximately $8,100 for the St. Joseph's County Special Olympics charity, an assistant director of RecSports said.Bill Reagan said that the funds raised exceeded last year's by nearly $1,400. The all-night event featured competition among Notre Dame and Saint Mary's dorms in an array of athletic activities. "We went for nine hours in the middle of the night with no behavior incidents, a lot of great competition, a tremendous amount of fun and very few injuries," Reagan said. "I continue to be amazed by the depth of the generosity in terms of time, effort and funds on behalf of our students for special causes."For the third consecutive year, the Keough/Welsh Family Hall team won the event and raised a total of $825 to be shared between their dorms. O'Neill and Lyons finished in second place, while a team of MBA students took third place. This year was the first that a graduate school team participated.Members of both Keough and Welsh Family attributed their success to the publicity that occurs and the excitement generated among their dorm residents."With all the promoting that we do in our dorms, people get very excited about the event and look forward to going," said Melissa Sands, Welsh Hall athletic commissioner. "It was especially enjoyable to watch everything come together so well after spending a couple of weeks promoting, collecting money and getting things organized."Students said that knowing the money donated went to charity contributed to their participation in Late Night Olympics, but many also cited the sense of dorm spirit and bonding that accompanies the competition."It is a great event for a good cause," said Nick Dobbertin, Keough Hall athletic commissioner. "I think the awareness that people have for Special Olympics is one incentive to participate, but what is more important is the pride that people have for their dorm and the draw of athletic competition. There is some kind of special bonding when the same six guys are running around from one event to another at 3 a.m."Keough Hall co-presidents Chris Duve and Joseph Sweigart said that they had not yet determined what the funds would be used for but said that they would somehow re-invest them into the dorm. They noted that in the past, winnings have been used to fund programming events and jerseys for the Hall's athletic teams.Duve and Sweigart said that Keough and Welsh Family have created something of a dynasty in their Late Night Olympics victories and attribute their success to the organization, support and excitement that dorm members bring.
