Megan SchiferlJuice Editor

Standing at 165 feet. 179 steps. 32 seconds. Can the speed record for climbing to the top of the Campanile be beaten?

The Pius XII Newman Center, the Catholic campus parish, is giving students that very chance. Thursday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. students can try their hand (or feet) at breaking the old record set in 1992 by Troy Bauman, a former SDSU quarterback. Prizes will be awarded for the first and second place finishers in both the men’s and women’s categories, even if the record is still standing at the end of the Challenge.

Meghan O’Connor, the student director of the Newman Center, organized the event.

“The challenge is a fun event to excite students about being back on campus. I mean who doesn’t love a challenge?” O’Connor, a junior consumer affairs major from Sioux Falls, said.

Mark York, a senior agronomy and mathematics major from Lake Wilson, Minn., plans on attempting to break the record this upcoming Thursday.

“I’ve been training some, but I don’t want to speculate on how I’ll do,” York said. “I wouldn’t want to talk the talk without being able to walk the walk.”

York has been involved with the Newman Center since his freshman year.

“It’s a really cool community and I’ve loved being able to get involved,” he said. “I am really happy to see an event that is not run-of-the-mill.”

The Newman Center is working in conjunction with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) group to run the event. Michael Preszler, a senior advertising major from Stewartville, Minn., and student leader with FOCUS, had a bit of a different view on the event’s intention.

“This is an event to help convey the message to students that Catholics can have fun too,” Preszler said.

The Challenge is first in a list of events designed to bring the campus community together. The next big event in the works is a Barn Dance to be held Oct. 8 at barn located just outside of Brookings.

One monthly event the Newman Center is extremely excited about is the once monthly “Big Deal”. The Big Deal is a night of praise and worship, along with the opportunity to ask questions and listen to a speaker.

For more information contact Meghan O’Connor at [email protected].

#1.1573420:1044873222.jpg:SDSU challenge: race to the top:SDSU challenge: race to the top:Sara Carlson