A Stanton tradition continues

In 2002 life was taken from two Stanton High School students during a car accident while on their way to school.

As a way to heal and grieve, and to set up a memorial for the students, Stanton decided to host a three-on-three basketball tournament to raise money to set up a memorial for the students.

That event has grown into a regular part of the sports calendar in Montgomery County.

March Mayhem was back in full swing over the weekend, but it has grown from a basketball tournament to include a dodgeball tournament, rugby, a three-point shooting and dunk contest, as well as a fun run and glow-in-the-dark volleyball.

Ahtletic director Jeff Grebin said the tournament is responsible for raising $2,000 annually for the athletics department.

“It started as a three-on-three tournament for a memorial; we might have charged $15 or $20,” he said. “For the kids it was a grieving day as well, and it’s evolved since then.”

Now it is an event that brings teams and athletes to Stanton from as far away as Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and Minnesota.

“The classes of 2007 and 2008 were the ones that did a great job of making the event what it is today,” Grebin said. “When teams come from far away it’s usually connections from alumni who move away or go to college and bring some of their friends back.”

Friday night saw the 5K Glow Run and glow-in-the-dark volleyball, while all day Saturday saw the three-on-three basketball tournament, non-tackling rugby, dodgeball, the three-point shooting competition and the slam dunk contest.

Grebin said the slam dunk contest had the highest number of participants it has ever had.

The evolution of March Mayhem wasn’t a slow one, Grebin said. Almost immediately after the success of the first event more aspects to it were added.

“That happened right away,” he said. “The neat thing about it is, in the beginning it wasn’t so much about raising money for the classes as much as trying to help someone else.”

Grebin said planning March Mayhem starts around the end of January or early February, and this year presented some logistical challenges.

“This year has been a challenge,” he said. “It’s spring break so there’s a lot of extra running around without the students around.”

This year was also the first year Grebin said teams could sign up online, which wasn’t a problem until the Thursday when the internet at the high school did not work.

The event still went off, and Grebin said he expects March Mayhem 2016 will end up raising a lot of money for Stanton athletics once again.