A trophy to the winner of an athletic and academic competition between the UCCS and Colorado State University-Pueblo was awarded to UCCS at a busy downtown street corner Wednesday afternoon.
UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak accepted the trophy from CSU-Pueblo President Joseph Garcia at Rutledge’s, 102 N. Tejon. Ent Federal Credit Union sponsors the competition.
The contest awards points to the winner of games between the schools in seven women’s and three men’s sports and a five-point bonus to the university whose student-athletes have the best grades. Mountain Lion teams won this year’s contest with a score of 33-12, including the coveted five-point grade bonus. UCCS teams prevailed in women’s volleyball, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s indoor track, women’s outdoor track and men’s golf. CSU-Pueblo teams prevailed in women’s soccer and women’s softball. The schools were even in men’s basketball and men’s soccer.
“In most areas, CSU-Pueblo and UCCS cooperate to benefit our students and our region,” Shockley-Zalabak said. “In athletics, however, I believe healthy competition is appropriate and helps to showcase the high-quality of student-athletes at both universities. I congratulate the Mountain Lion teams for their performances on the fields and courts and in the classroom.”
The Steel and Silver Series is four years old. But the traveling trophy, created by Joan Aaland, Colorado Springs, is relatively new. The 18-inch-high, 80-pound bronze and mahogany trophy features a beam representing Pueblo’s steel production history and a pick axe representing the mining history of Colorado Springs with a wolf and a mountain lion, team mascots. The trophy is awarded to the annual winner of the series.
In addition to Shockley-Zalabak and Garcia, representatives from the Mountain Lion and the Thunderwolf athletic programs attended in addition to other university officials
The Steel and Silver series was named in recognition of the economic history of the cities where the universities are located. Pueblo was one of the largest steel production centers in the West, while Colorado Springs served as a hub for the hard-rock miners in the area.
–Doug Fitzgerald
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