Findlay, Ohio, June 24, 2004 – Twenty-three people affiliated with The University of Findlay are set to ride in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Reeves Northrup Memorial Bike to the Bay tour on June 26 and 27.

The team, the Orange and Black Attack, is the first college or university team to participate in the Reeves Northrup bike tour. It is also the largest non-corporate team biking in this year’s tour, in which more than 1,000 cyclists will ride.

Bike to the Bay offers cyclists 35-, 50-, 75- and 100-mile per day routes on scenic back roads in Northwest Ohio. The routes begin at the Lucas County Fairgrounds in Maumee, Ohio, and conclude at Port Clinton High School in Port Clinton, Ohio. Cyclists in the 50-, 75- and 100-mile programs will ride back from the high school to the fairgrounds the next day.

The Orange and Black Attack will ride 100 miles each day of the event.

Sharinda Welton, director of student activities and commuter student services at UF, heads the Orange and Black Attack, which includes 17 UF students, Winebrenner Theological Seminary Academic Dean John Nissley and riders from St. Louis who are friends and relatives of UF student and team biker Katie Castelli. Half of the University softball team is among the student riders.

The Orange and Black Attack is riding in honor of UF Baseball Head Coach Troy Berry, Anne Emsweller, mother of Vice President of Student Services David Emsweller, Executive Director of Health Services Karen R. Yingling, Welton’s aunt, Carol Wilmsmeyer and other friends and relatives, all of whom suffer or have suffered from multiple sclerosis.

Each rider raised a $30 registration fee, plus a minimum of $200 each in donations. Welton said that this financial commitment set a great precedent for future collegiate teams’ participation in Bike to the Bay.