University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Celebration Hosted by Biltmore Farms Hotels Perfect Ending to 2017 Bulldog Challenge
04.26.2017 | General
"It doesn't get any better."
The simple but profound words by UNC Asheville Director of Athletics Janet R. Cone to the crowd on the evening of Wednesday, April 26, perfectly encapsulated how special it truly is to be a Bulldog.
Cone's thoughts came as she was closing out a celebration of the winning teams from the extremely successful 2017 Bulldog Challenge.
The celebration was hosted by Biltmore Farms Vice President for Hospitality Ronald J. Storto at the DoubleTree by Hilton Asheville-Biltmore.
"Not only do I want to thank our donors, our student-athletes and our coaches who really made the Bulldog Challenge successful, I particularly want to thank (Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics for Advancement and Alumni Engagement) Betsy Blose and (Annual Giving and Communications Director) Aaron Dahlstrom for taking the leadership on this project," Cone said. "It's so much fun to get together and have a celebration whether you're winning a championship on the court, field, track or pool, but this is a championship where you're raising funds for scholarships and other means. It's a great night, and I'm so thrilled that we could get together and celebrate with our good friends at Biltmore Farms Hotels."
During the month of March, all former student-athletes and Bulldog fans were challenged to make a gift to UNC Asheville Athletics through the 2017 Bulldog Challenge. Their gift directly impacts today's scholar-athlete by providing scholarships, tutoring and essential academic support that allow the Bulldogs to compete at the highest level.
The 2016 Bulldog Challenge had 237 total gifts, while the 2017 Bulldog Challenge had a total of 571 overall gifts with 442 unique donors.
An impressive over 200 alumni also gave to the 2017 Bulldog Challenge that raised over $106,000 in total.
To put it simply, the 2017 Bulldog Challenge was truly historic. Â
And that's a vast understatement as the 2017 Bulldog Challenge went 265 percent past its original goal of $40,000.
The 2017 Bulldog Challenge featured three different categories available for UNC Asheville teams to win and those were the three teams in attendance at the celebration on Wednesday, April 26.
The UNC Asheville men's basketball team raised the most money as a program.
UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt realizes these type of efforts for his program mean a great deal.
"In order to sustain championship-level programs here at UNC Asheville there has to be support from a lot of different areas and having our student-athlete and fans step up with their financial contributions only enhances the student-athlete experience here at UNC Asheville," McDevitt said. "Betsy Blose has led the charge for the Bulldog Challenge for several years and to see the amount of money raised eclipse the $100,000 mark is a testament to all of her hard work."
The men's soccer program had the most total donations with 116 in total, and head coach Mathes Mennell is thrilled with the efforts toward his program.
"This my third Bulldog Challenge and it's such a great event and it's crucial to what we're trying to do here as an opportunity to augment our enhancement augments," Mennell said. "I don't think that any coach or student-athlete would have thought in their wildest dreams that we would have gotten over $100,000 across the board with the Bulldog Challenge. For men's soccer to have the most alumni gifts and to have the most gifts and finish a close second in overall money, it's something that we're really proud of. Probably what makes me proudest is not only our community support, but our alumni support.
"It's awesome and very humbling and something we take very seriously. Just to be a part of such a monumental effort that in 2017 saw us get over $100,000 is a great credit to our alumni, to our fans and to our University. I would be remiss if I did not mention Betsy Blose, who did such a fantastic job of spearheading this effort. It's really quite remarkable. We have definitely set the bar very high, but that's definitely a great standard for us all to set our minds to for next year," Mennell continued.
The women's swimming program at UNC Asheville took home the top honors for most alumni participation at 100 percent. Head Coach Elizabeth Lykins is very thankful for the efforts of her young alumni.
"The swimming program is excited to be recognized as a category winner in the 2017 Bulldog Challenge," Lykins said. "Although we have a small alumni base, getting the support of every single alumnae is an incredible feat. With 100 percent alumni participation, the ladies set a strong example for future program graduates to follow. Along with every alumni donating, we are also proud of the number of those who gave. With such a young program, we are excited to see the interest in our program growing. 32 people donated to the program with a strong push in the final days of the campaign. Our staff would like to thank Betsy Blose and (General Manager for Sponsorship and Fundraising) Kelly Schukart for their unwavering efforts to fundraise and enhance the experiences of all UNC Asheville student-athletes. Their work is greatly appreciated and does not go unnoticed."Â
For more information on UNC Asheville athletics, please visit www.uncabulldogs.com.
The simple but profound words by UNC Asheville Director of Athletics Janet R. Cone to the crowd on the evening of Wednesday, April 26, perfectly encapsulated how special it truly is to be a Bulldog.
Cone's thoughts came as she was closing out a celebration of the winning teams from the extremely successful 2017 Bulldog Challenge.
The celebration was hosted by Biltmore Farms Vice President for Hospitality Ronald J. Storto at the DoubleTree by Hilton Asheville-Biltmore.
"Not only do I want to thank our donors, our student-athletes and our coaches who really made the Bulldog Challenge successful, I particularly want to thank (Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics for Advancement and Alumni Engagement) Betsy Blose and (Annual Giving and Communications Director) Aaron Dahlstrom for taking the leadership on this project," Cone said. "It's so much fun to get together and have a celebration whether you're winning a championship on the court, field, track or pool, but this is a championship where you're raising funds for scholarships and other means. It's a great night, and I'm so thrilled that we could get together and celebrate with our good friends at Biltmore Farms Hotels."
During the month of March, all former student-athletes and Bulldog fans were challenged to make a gift to UNC Asheville Athletics through the 2017 Bulldog Challenge. Their gift directly impacts today's scholar-athlete by providing scholarships, tutoring and essential academic support that allow the Bulldogs to compete at the highest level.
The 2016 Bulldog Challenge had 237 total gifts, while the 2017 Bulldog Challenge had a total of 571 overall gifts with 442 unique donors.
An impressive over 200 alumni also gave to the 2017 Bulldog Challenge that raised over $106,000 in total.
To put it simply, the 2017 Bulldog Challenge was truly historic. Â
And that's a vast understatement as the 2017 Bulldog Challenge went 265 percent past its original goal of $40,000.
The 2017 Bulldog Challenge featured three different categories available for UNC Asheville teams to win and those were the three teams in attendance at the celebration on Wednesday, April 26.
The UNC Asheville men's basketball team raised the most money as a program.
UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt realizes these type of efforts for his program mean a great deal.
"In order to sustain championship-level programs here at UNC Asheville there has to be support from a lot of different areas and having our student-athlete and fans step up with their financial contributions only enhances the student-athlete experience here at UNC Asheville," McDevitt said. "Betsy Blose has led the charge for the Bulldog Challenge for several years and to see the amount of money raised eclipse the $100,000 mark is a testament to all of her hard work."
The men's soccer program had the most total donations with 116 in total, and head coach Mathes Mennell is thrilled with the efforts toward his program.
"This my third Bulldog Challenge and it's such a great event and it's crucial to what we're trying to do here as an opportunity to augment our enhancement augments," Mennell said. "I don't think that any coach or student-athlete would have thought in their wildest dreams that we would have gotten over $100,000 across the board with the Bulldog Challenge. For men's soccer to have the most alumni gifts and to have the most gifts and finish a close second in overall money, it's something that we're really proud of. Probably what makes me proudest is not only our community support, but our alumni support.
"It's awesome and very humbling and something we take very seriously. Just to be a part of such a monumental effort that in 2017 saw us get over $100,000 is a great credit to our alumni, to our fans and to our University. I would be remiss if I did not mention Betsy Blose, who did such a fantastic job of spearheading this effort. It's really quite remarkable. We have definitely set the bar very high, but that's definitely a great standard for us all to set our minds to for next year," Mennell continued.
The women's swimming program at UNC Asheville took home the top honors for most alumni participation at 100 percent. Head Coach Elizabeth Lykins is very thankful for the efforts of her young alumni.
"The swimming program is excited to be recognized as a category winner in the 2017 Bulldog Challenge," Lykins said. "Although we have a small alumni base, getting the support of every single alumnae is an incredible feat. With 100 percent alumni participation, the ladies set a strong example for future program graduates to follow. Along with every alumni donating, we are also proud of the number of those who gave. With such a young program, we are excited to see the interest in our program growing. 32 people donated to the program with a strong push in the final days of the campaign. Our staff would like to thank Betsy Blose and (General Manager for Sponsorship and Fundraising) Kelly Schukart for their unwavering efforts to fundraise and enhance the experiences of all UNC Asheville student-athletes. Their work is greatly appreciated and does not go unnoticed."Â
For more information on UNC Asheville athletics, please visit www.uncabulldogs.com.
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