Buckeyes Got Talent Raises $11,400 for Boys and Girls Clubs of Columbus – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | General
COLUMBUS, Ohio – With 10 sports represented, Ohio State student-athletes sang, danced and laughed their way en route to raising $11,400 for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Columbus at the Buckeyes Got Talent show held May 10.
Battling for bragging rights and a traveling trophy, the fencing team secured the win with its ‘Michael Jackson Revival Tour.’
Hosted by the Student-Athlete Advisory Board and SafeAuto, the talent competition, now in its fifth year, has raised over $25,000 for the clubs. For the third-consecutive year, Kelsey Webb from WNCI’s Morning Zoo served as emcee, while friend of athletics Walter Dennis, former basketball players Ron Stokes and Mark Titus, Boys and Girls Club representative Amirah Lomax, NBC 4’s Jerod Smalley and Tracy Stuck of the Ohio Union served on the judging panel.
Prior to the event, student-athletes from 20 different teams met with the Boys and Girls Club members for a pizza party in French Field House before heading to St. John Arena for a night of entertainment.
Members of the wrestling and rifle teams opened the evening with back-to-back comedic skits, before handing the spotlight to the spirit squad who jammed out to Oasis’ “Wonderwall.”
Using OK Go’s “Here It Goes Again” music video as inspiration, the synchronized swimming team replaced treadmills with training slide boards in an upbeat number that got the crowd clapping along.
“To get up there and not fall takes talent,” Stokes said.
The crowd also got moving for members of the men’s golf team who embodied the Backstreet Boys as they wowed the audience with their dance moves.
In what Smalley described as a “potpourri of talent,” the rowing team demonstrated their aptitude at hula hooping, comedy, music and dance.
Also showing off their musical talents were freshman gymnast Victoria Aepli who performed a solo piano act and the second-place men’s volleyball team who performed an original song for a lucky lady in the audience.
Offensive lineman Evan Blankenship closed the show with his rendition of Rihanna’s “California King Bed,” to secure third-place accolades.
“I’m glad to get third,” Blankenship said. “The fencing team did their thing to win. It’s a great cause, and I’m happy to be here to support it.
For more information on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus, please visit: www.bgccolumbus.org.
