The Colorado Mesa University Athletic Training Club and 17 Strong have hosted the Mr. Mav Pageant each year for the last eight years. It is a fundraiser that helps collect funds for both organizations. For the Athletic Training Club, it was an event to raise money for their annual trip to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Training Association (RMATA) conference; a four day conference that is held annually.
The pageant participants were all males from both club and varsity sports who competed with each other in different events. The events include formal wear, dad jokes, swimwear, talent, CMU spirit wear and question and answer. This year the events varied slightly from previous years to avoid any inappropriate behavior.
Because of changes that have been made in the National Athletic Training Association (NATA), CMU is transitioning to an entry-level Master’s program that will be starting in the Fall. This year’s graduating seniors will be the last class to graduate under the current program. With the change, it is likely that the Athletic Training Club will no longer be around due to the loss of students who are graduating in May and with that there will not be any students to be able to continue to host the Mr. Mav Pageant. This pageant takes time to plan and requires a group effort to make it a success. Therefore, this was the final Mr. Mav Pageant.
“The Athletic Training Club worked really hard to make the last year of Mr. Mav one of the best ones yet and we were really pleased with the turnout and participation from CMU Athletics. We are grateful for all of the campus and community support that made this event possible and hope other clubs will consider working on alternative fundraisers to support 17 Strong in the future,” Athletic Training Club Secretary Megan Atkin said.
Chase Cracraft, one of CMU’s baseball players, won first place of the final Mr. Mav contest. The runner up was Matthew Entrekin, a member of Club Tennis.
