As the 2016 Fall Frenzy begins, Gannon University looks to win the “Golden Spokes” after an impressive third-place finish in last year’s annual tournament. Good for U, Gannon University’s wellness initiative, is encouraging the entire campus to get involved in this highly interactive and energetic competition.

Fall Frenzy is an annual indoor-cycling tournament consisting of 153 collegiate schools throughout the nation, ranging from state universities to local colleges. The qualifying round of this competition began at midnight on Tuesday, October 4 and continued for 48 hours through Wednesday, October 5 where we earned the 2nd place seed. The following rounds will follow this same schedule for an additional five weeks.

Similar to last year, the tournament is modeled after the NCAA March Madness Tournament – the top 16 schools with the most miles in the qualifying round will advance to knockout play and be seeded according to what place they finished in the qualifiers. The teams who advance by cycling the most miles in the knockout round will then compete head-to-head in the Super Sixteen, Electric Eight, Fearsome Four, and the Championship.

The Recreation and Wellness Center is hosting this event for our campus community. Participants ride on the interactive Expresso exercise bikes, which are equipped with screens that portray a virtual course, located on the mezzanine level of the facility.  Ashley Kolniak, an Administrative Staff Member at the Recreation and Wellness Center, said that Fall Frenzy is a fun and interactive way to engage your physical wellness.

The first week of the competition, Gannon University biked 1,128.4 miles during the qualifying round. The Knight Riders advanced to the Super Sixteen round where we will be facing head-to-head with the University of Iowa who places 15th in the qualifying round with 247.4 miles.

For live event updates, follow the Gannon Recreation and Wellness Center on Facebook and Twitter or visit the Expresso Fall Frenzy homepage at https://expresso.com/fallfrenzy for more information.

-contributed by David Russo