The First Annual Red Key Field Day, co-sponsored by the Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars was hosted and attended by over 100 athletes from more than 15 teams to provide a day of sports and fun for the local Ithaca community.According to the Red Key Society, an honor society for upper-class athletes, the event’s purpose was to expand the relationship between the Cornell Athletic Community and the local Ithaca community.For two-and-a-half hours, the Red played with children of Cornell’s athletic staff, local schools and youth programs such as OURS & YOURS. The athletes and community members participated in sports such as lacrosse, gymnastics, field hockey, ultimate frisbee and soccer.Throughout the day, a meet and greet station with food and water allowed children to get to know the Cornell athletes. At the end of the event, Cornell Athletics gear was raffled off for the participants.The Red Key Athlete Honor Society also started an inter-athletics competition that recognizes Cornell’s student-athletes for their leadership and contribution to the Cornell and Ithaca communities.The Cornell Cup motivated the varsity teams to thrive in the classroom, excel in competition, participate in community service projects, offer support to other Cornell varsity teams and attend Student Athlete Advisory Council and Red Key-sponsored events.This year’s winner was the wrestling team, which aside from having stellar performances in the season and in the NCAA Championships, showed great community and Cornell athletic involvement.“It’s pretty awesome to be given an award like this, our team loves giving back to the community and attending other athletic events,” senior wrestler Kyle Dake said. “Regardless if we got an award like this we would still give back, but it is nice to get cool shirts and a tiny bit of recognition. “One of the team’s primary involvements is Big Red Buddies; the team volunteers at the Cornell Child Care Center.The team also participated in three 5k runs for charity — including the 21 Run organized by the Men’s Lacrosse Team — and worked three youth wrestling tournaments over the year.“I can’t think of any team that deserves it more than wrestling this year,” senior fencer Beverly Yang said. “If there was any team we could count on to be at a game or bring volunteers for events, it was the wrestling team.”Looking ahead to the future, the Red Key Society hopes to keep the competition going and to increase the internal competition between teams.“We’re looking into putting a permanent scoreboard in Bartels, as well as continue posting results on the facebook page to grow the name of Cornell cup and what it represents,” Yang said. “It’s really improved the sense of community among all the teams this year, and I hope that it only makes teams closer in the future.”
Original Author: Haley Velasco