BYU Student Wellness held their annual Midnight Madness event Sept. 23 at the Richards Building, where students were able to participate in recreational activities from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.
Students engaged in Zumba, Spin and High Fitness classes and played basketball and volleyball. Chip cookies and a soda bar were provided at the RB entrance for participants.
At the Smith Fieldhouse annex, they offered Spikeball, rock climbing and wheelchair soccer. There were six Spikeball nets set up, allowing many groups to play and there was a long line of students waiting to get on the court for wheelchair soccer.
Though BYU put on this event, there were many other college students and young adults from Provo in attendance. Ensign College student Heidy Jurado spent the night playing basketball in the gym. She said her friends invited her to the event after they saw it on their Instagram page.
“I think it’s kind of cool, we’ve been playing basketball here for 30 minutes,” Jurado said.
There was also a cannonball contest, in which participants were able to sign up as individuals or in groups to jump off the high dives. Spectators crowded the bleachers overlooking the pool and cheered for those with the biggest splash.
The winning group consisted of three brothers: Ammon, Samuel and Daniel Olson, from Orange County, California.
“We were back home in our rooms tonight and my man Matt Green came over and said, ‘there is a cannonball contest, you should come,’ so we decided to check it out,” Ammon Olson said.
Samuel Olson talked about their last-minute decision to sign up for the contest. “I walked in, I saw the people doing the flips and the cannon-balls and was like, ‘you know what, who’s holding me back?'”
Wheelchair basketball and rugby in the Smith Fieldhouse were also popular. Kenzie Mason, a Provo resident, said her favorite part of the night was wheelchair rugby. “You get intense with it and hit people instead of being soft and nice,” Mason said.
Though this was the only Student Wellness Midnight Madness event of the year, there is always next year to come out and participate in these recreational activities.
Midnight Madness attendees play Spikeball in the Smith Fieldhouse annex. BYU Student Wellness put on this event Sept. 23 at the Richards Building, where people were able to participate in recreational activities from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. (Anna Hair)
