The Cy-Hawk football series game ball is making its way to Ames as part of the annual Army ROTC annual Game Ball Run.

University of Iowa Army ROTC cadets departed early Friday, Sept. 11, with plans to make stops in Williamsburg, Marengo, and Belle Plaine before passing the ball on to the Iowa State Army ROTC cadets in Tama.

This year marks the 28th anniversary of the Game Ball Run, which began on Sept. 19, 1987, when LTC Steven C. Fredericks was professor of military science at the University of Iowa. The event was designed to build esprit de corps among cadets of the UI and ISU, but also became a fundraiser for the Multiple Sclerosis Society when a UI cadet was diagnosed with the degenerative disease. Cadets will continue to support veterans and deployed by collecting along the way cereal, dry pasta, baby wipes, Gold Bond foot powder, and canned food items to support veterans and deployed military.

The Game Ball Run was preceded by a Beat State Pep Rally on the Pentacrest  on Thursday evening, where students danced in unison with the University of Iowa Marching Band, sang the Iowa Fight Song, and challenged one another in a corn cob–eating contest emceed by Gary Dolphin, the voice of the Iowa Hawkeyes. 

The Beat State Pep Rally was sponsored by the UIAA Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow (S.T.A.T.), Hawks Nest, Hawkeye Caucus, and UISG.