Blog: Conference Foes Unite For MDA Muscle Walk

The Alverno College women's basketball team will face Northern Athletics Conference foe Dominican University on Monday, Jan. 16, but the opponents will team up at the game in an effort to raise awareness and donations for the upcoming Muscular Dystrophy Association Muscle Walk.

The Inferno and Stars are also joined by Concordia University - Wisconsin as part of a three-team effort to raise funds for the MDA Muscle Walk, a series of local walk events across the country held to pay tribute to and raise funds for children and adults served by the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

The 2012 Milwaukee Muscle Walk will take place on Sunday, March 25, at the Pettit National Ice Center.

All money raised by the three teams will be donated to team Rally for Reagan, in celebration of Reagan Imhoff, a six-year old that was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type II shortly after her first birthday.

SMA, one of the 40-plus neuromuscular diseases that MDA supports, is a neuromuscular disorder affecting all voluntary muscles. Due to her weakened muscles, Reagan has never been able to walk or crawl and SMA has made eating enough food by mouth a challenge. Additionally, Reagan's weakened respiratory muscles make coughing and taking deep breaths while sleeping challenging and has led to increased tendency for pneumonia, among other respiratory issues.

Reagan's mother Jenny Imhoff has close ties to all three participating schools, having played club basketball with Concordia Wisconsin's head coach Stacey Brunner-Jones and having served on the Alverno women's basketball staff as an assistant coach alongside current Dominican assistant coach Nicole Kopacz.

During the Inferno's January 16 (7 p.m.) home game versus the Stars in Reiman Gymnasium, donations will be taken and a number of raffle prizes will be available. Prizes include items donated by the Imhoff family, the three schools involved, surrounding NCAA III conferences -- including the NAC, College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association, Midwest Conference, Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference -- and the Salem Civic Center Complex, host of multiple NCAA Championships, including the Stagg Bowl.

The Stars and Falcons also raised money at their Jan. 7, contest at Dominican through similar contests and donations.

The teams will wear Muscle Walk shirts during warm-ups, and Alverno will wear its away red uniforms instead of the traditional home whites, while Dominican will wear its visiting blues to mirror the Muscle Walk colors.

For more information on Reagan's story visit rally4reagan.com or to make a donation on the Inferno's Rally for Reagan team page click here.