HICKORY, N.C. - On Saturday, April 11th, Lenoir-Rhyne hosted the school's fourth annual BeaRaPaLooza, welcoming over 5000 people to campus. In just it's fourth year of existence, the event has become a premier Bears Club event that alumni from all sports, students and community look forward to.
The day opened with the spring football game and BeaRaPaLooZa family festivities on the Surface Family Practice field. Fans got a first look at head coach Doug Socha's team as he prepares for his third season at the helm.
"It was a great day for the team to end the spring football season in front of family, fans, alumni, administrators, and classmates," coach Socha said. "We had a solid few weeks and look forward to building into both the summer and next year."
On-site competitions included the football spring game, baseball doubleheader, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, and the Southside Power and Fitness Invitational. Every team won their games, with baseball taking down Emory & Henry 19-9 and 12-3, tennis downing Lincoln Memorial 4-1(M) and 4-2(W), women's lacrosse defeating #23 Anderson 10-9, and men's lacrosse closing out the day with a big 19-14 win over #9 Anderson.
One of the highlights of the year was the Bears Club spring raffle, which sold a record 544 tickets and raised 54,400 for student-athlete scholarships. The Bears Club raised over $330,000 during their 80-day campaign from both new and returning members, adding to the financial support for Lenoir-Rhyne student-athletes. To cap everything off, Bears Give Back Day raised just shy of $50,000 and saw 835 donors, 167% of the original donor goal.
LR Athletics thanks everybody who attended to support the student-athletes and programs. Lenoir-Rhyne also wants to thank the City of Hickory for their sponsorship and partnership of this year's BeaRaPalooZa event.
The Spring raffle winners are below. If you won a prize, please contact the Bears Club office via email
shayna.skonieczki@lr.edu.
| Raffle Order |
Winning Ticket # |
Winner |
| $500 cash |
38 |
Becky Laney |
| 4 Tickets to the President's Suite for 1 Football game |
98 |
Alex Robinson |
| $150 Cranford restaurants gift card |
444 |
Ed Byrd |
| Foursome to Lake Hickory CC (Catawba Springs) |
113 |
Mark Huckabee |
| Cherry Treesort Getaway |
489 |
Les Stewart |
| 4 LR Season ticket passes 2026-2027 season (GA) |
473 |
Frank Harris |
| Under Armour Gear Package |
55 |
Jim and Liz Correll |
| X-Box |
342 |
Will Eckard |
| $150 Under Armour gift card |
382 |
Trent Staley |
| VIP Suite tickets for 16 for 1 LR Lacrosse Game |
451 |
Terry Collins |
| 2 Hickory Football Club Season Passes |
584 |
Cecil Cline |
| $250 cash prize |
53 |
Dean Proctor |
| $100 Firehouse Subs Gift Card |
224 |
Megan Teeter |
| $150 LR Bookstore gift card |
34 |
Pete Kemp |
| Jewelry from Oz Jewelers |
450 |
Addison Ledford |
| Crawdads Suite and Food Voucher |
326 |
Harley Mason |
| Players Ridge Foursome |
476 |
Katie Cavanaugh |
| LR Men's Soccer Camp Pass |
298 |
Kim Flicker |
| 10 On-field Hospitality tickets for 1 LR Football Game |
171 |
David Legrand |
| $250 cash prize |
481 |
Gary Nobles |
| 4 Premium Charlotte Knights Tickets |
252 |
Palmer Clemmer |
| Home2 Hickory 1-night Stay |
93 |
Alex Harrill |
| LR Athletics Swag Package |
617 |
Brent Owen |
| Hampton Inn-Black Mountain 2-Night Stay |
325 |
Debra Vader |
| Foursome at the Silos |
573 |
Stephanie Delgado |
| 4 Sports Clips MVP Cuts |
680 |
Tripp Cody |
| Two Champions Club Passes for 1 LR Football Game |
33 |
Jodi Salo |
| Balloonista Gift Certificate |
397 |
James Woodruff |
| $100 Red Rocks Gift card |
246 |
Harry Titus |
| Foursome to Catawba Country Club |
255 |
Palmer Clemmer |
| Bears Club Pavilion Rental |
204 |
Daisey Maxey |
| $100 Kickbacks gift card |
71 |
Joan Everett |
| 10 Free Car Washes at Tommy's Express |
666 |
Patrick Laney |
| $100 Center Street Eats Gift card |
92 |
Alex Harrill |
| Reserved Parking Spot in Gold Lot for 1 LR Football Game |
27 |
Mike Mulligan |
| Robert Trent Jones Golf experience for 3 in Gainesville, VA |
43 |
Kent Copeland |
| $1,000 cash |
463 |
John Hopson |
| Blowing Rock Weekend Getaway |
558 |
David Runner |
| Fly Fishing Experience |
676 |
Tripp Cody |
| 2-Night Charleston Experience for 2 |
389 |
Aaron Tankersley |
