BATON ROUGE – The Mikie’s, hosted by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, raised $1,000 in ticket proceeds for the Big Buddies Program during its inaugural year. The event allowed student-athletes to showcase their talents through dances, skits and songs.
Taking home the winning talent trophy was LSU’s swimming & diving team, for an impressive choreographed dance. Following was a second place video submission from the pole vaulters of the Tigers track and field team. A poetry reading by the LSU women’s basketball team earned third place.
“This is an event that showcased the talents of our student-athletes, but at the same time raised money for an important local organization,” Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes Assistant Director for Diversity, Inclusion and Civic Engagement, Jade Bryan said. “I’m really proud of how our student-athletes rallied together as a whole, and this is an event that the community can now look to enjoy for years to come.”
Guest judging the event were football coach Les Miles; super fan Matt Clarke, mathematics senior; and Emily Turner, former LSU softball pitcher and current FOX 44 news anchor.
In between acts, these awards voted on by the student-athletes were announced for the 2011-2012 season:
Best Upset: Men’s Basketball vs. #10 Marquette
Best Record Breaking Performance: Kim Duncan, Track & Field
Best Celebration: Brad Wing, Football
Best Facial Hair: Joseph Caraway, Track & Field
Best Hair, Male: Smylie Kaufman, Golf
Best Hair, Female: Cassie Trosclair, Softball
Mister Congeniality: Brandon Gordon, Track & Field
Miss Congeniality: Janelle Garcia, Gymnastics
Most Involved Team: Gymnastics
Best Trainer/Manager: Raymond Champagne, Track & Field
Most Likely to be a Celebrity: Sam Montgomery, Football
Most Likely to win a Gold Medal: Kim Duncan, Track & Field
Most Swag, Male: Phil Leblanc, Track & Field
Most Swag, Female: Natalie Ieyoub, Soccer
Best Play: Eric Reid, Football
Fiercest Female Competitor: Lloimincia Hall, Gymnastics
Fiercest Male Competitor: Tyrann Mathieu, Football
Most Outstanding Student-Athlete: Madie Jones, Volleyball
SAAC President and junior volleyball player Madie Jones views the event as a success and looks forward to the opportunity of expanding the event next year.
“The event went really well, and the student-athletes were very competitive about winning the talent show,” Jones said. “Everyone who participated has been talking about how much fun they had getting to go to an athletic event with a sole purpose of allowing everyone to just have a good time. In the future, we hope to get more people in attendance so that we can raise more money for a charity and show members of the community a side of their favorite student-athletes that they’ve probably never seen before. I think the Mikie’s will become a tradition on campus, and I’m excited to see where we can go with it next year.”
Big Buddies, the charity sponsored by this event, is a nonprofit organization that aims for the betterment of opportunities for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.