The Associated Press
Penn State University’s annual dance marathon raised $9.8 million to fight childhood cancer, its organizers announced Sunday.
The 700-plus volunteers on the University Park, Pa., campus may not have been actually dancing the entire weekend, but they’re not allowed to sit or sleep for 46 hours.
Since 1977, a total of nearly $137 million has gone to THON’s beneficiary, Four Diamonds at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital. The bulk of that is raised over the year, as hundreds of student groups, including Greek organizations and athletes, hold fundraisers and spend time with pediatric patients.
One highlight this year: Penn State fans discovered that their freshmen football players can dance, too. On Saturday night, running back Saquon Barkley, receiver Juwan Johnson and safety Jarvis Miller led a dozen true or redshirt freshmen in a choreographed hip-hop routine that won the THON dance contest after the trio defeated three members of the women’s soccer team in a dance-off.