By Kelsey Russo
Ewing, NJ … Working together is a common thread in all great athletic teams. The College Of New Jersey women's basketball squad took that to another level trudging a hard, mucky course in the fight to raise awareness for multiple sclerosis.
Nine Lion players came out to run MS MuckFest in Philadelphia to support the family of
Nikki Schott, whose mother was diagnosed with MS over 20 years ago.
MS MuckFest is a 5K event filled with mucky, absurd obstacles covered in the mud. Many families make up teams to work hand-in-hand together in getting through the sloppy course together. Schott's sisters, Lauren and Lindsey, have been running the MS MuckFest for five years now. They created a team of 47 people and raised $1,785 for the National MS Society. MuckFest is an enjoyable environment filled with vendors and music, therefor if people want to come and support without getting soaked in filth, they're more then welcome to attend and hang out.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic and often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system. Schott's mom, a former track athlete at Ithaca College, was diagnosed with affliction 20 years ago. She was an outstanding field hockey, basketball and track athlete in high school. The competitive determination she developed through sport has been helpful in dealing with difficult physical challenges.
"She is nothing but positive towards everything she does and is always helpful with my sisters and me," said Schott. "There is so much to be said about her because she is an amazing woman."
Schott is looking forward to the future with her team as she plans on raising more awareness and funds to fight MS. "As a family, we are very open with talking about MS since it's the only way for people to discover more about this disease and hopefully spark more interests in people to do more research."
GoPro video of TCNJ players at the eventMuckfest Mudletes pageÂ
