University of Rhode Island students and faculty gathered last Friday for the first annual “Rhode Warrior” event and the reveal of the new lights on the campus recreation fields.
The first annual “Rhode Warrior” event came to life after University Police Officer Paul Hanrahan pitched the idea. When asked what inspired him to create the “Rhode Warrior” event he gave credit to “American Ninja Warrior.”
“I watch the show with my family at home and thought it would be a fun activity for the students on campus,” Hanrahan said. “It took a few weeks assembling the course with the help of fellow University Police Officer John Bush and Campus Police Captain Michael Flanagan.”
He pitched the idea to URI and it was soon agreed that it would be a great activity for celebrating the new lights on the campus recreation fields, located at the bottom of Flag Road. After a couple of weeks planning and building, Hanrahan and fellow university officers were able to complete the course with the help of the school’s powerlifting team. Hanrahan and fellow university police supplied food and water for the competitors.
The winner of the Rhode Warrior Challenge was Mark David with a time of two minutes and 22 seconds.
The field, which was formerly called Tibbits Field, has now been officially renamed the North Campus Recreation Fields. The Student Senate teamed up with the Department of Campus Recreation to head the campaign for the lights. Together they raised and set aside $170,000 for the project, which involved buying the land, getting power to the field, and installing the lights.
Jodi Hawkins, director of campus recreation, gave a speech thanking those involved with the “Friday Night Lights” and “Rhode Warrior” event, and outlined the department’s plans to put the lights to use. Hawkins made sure to recognize student senate for their work in raising the money needed for the lights.
“The URI student senate has been working since 2008 to get the lights installed on the recreation fields,” Hawkins said. “We can now have up to 5,000 people on the field under these lights.”
The department of campus recreation plans to host intramural games after dusk now, allowing for students who’d had scheduling conflicts during the day the chance to now participate. Intramural flag football and outdoor soccer are the two biggest intramural sports on campus and both have games held on the north campus recreation fields.
Hawkins also thanked Christina Savoie, the fitness and wellness specialist for the department of campus recreation, who had worked hard to organize and build support for the event. In addition to thanking Savoie, Hawkins also made sure to thank the sports teams involved with organizing the event and helping to set up the “Rhode Warrior” course. The teams included the women’s field hockey team, and the the men and women’s rugby, lacrosse, ultimate Frisbee, and powerlifting teams.