2021 Go Move Challenge: Final Recap

Published March 5

The results of the 9th annual Go Move Challenge are in! Congratulations to everyone who completed the challenge. Our numbers are impressive. Congratulations especially to the institutions who win bragging rights for the following:

• Most Minutes: Santa Clara University for earning the most minutes, 529,993 minutes of exercise minutes.
• Average of Most Minutes: Santa Clara University for earning the highest average number of minutes, 1392, per participant.
• Regional Average Minutes Per Person
  • East Coast - Boston College (first time winner!)
  • Mid-West - University of Detroit Mercy
  • West Coast - Santa Clara University
  • South - Xavier University

February = Moving

For many AJCU institutions, the month of February has become synonymous with movement, and this year was no exception. Faculty and staff from 26 Jesuit institutions committed to tracking every minute of their intentional, physical activity for the past 28 days, and the collective numbers are impressive:

To see what numbers your institution accumulated, visit the Go Move Challenge website. Thank you to everyone for participating and finishing strong!

Group Effort

Beyond the competition and with the help of social media, the Go Move Challenge fostered camaraderie and new connections among AJCU colleagues while engaging in heart-healthy, physical exercise. Over 450 participants joined the Go Move Challenge Group on Facebook, Instagram and used #GoMoveChallenge to share inspiring pictures, videos, and words of encouragement with their colleagues across the nation.

Weekly Recaps

As we have been reporting each week, participants have been as excited as ever to share their feedback on how the Go Move Challenge has positively influenced their month of February and beyond. If you missed any stories from previous weeks, you can access them, along with pictures, at any time:

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• AJCU Connections article: Go Move Challenge is an Exercise in Resilience and Flexibility

Shout Outs:

Many of our Institutions exercise minutes, participation and placement increased:

• As mentioned above, Santa Clara University won the title of most active Jesuit institution for the 3rd year in a row! Congrats SCU!!
• Marquette University who has competed in the Go Move Challenge since 2015 was definitely a stand out this year. They moved up from 16th place last year to 7th place this year. They increased their minutes by 15,000. Way to go Marquette!!
• Creighton University has placed in the top 3 for the past 3 years! In addition, they increased their minutes by 50,000 from last year and added 7 more participants.
• This is only Boston College's 2nd year competing in the challenge and their results are impressive. They moved from 12th place last year to 4th place this year for total minutes, placed 3rd for average number of minutes and placed 1st for East Coast regional standings.
• Xavier University placed 5th this year, moving up from 17th place last year. They also won their region for averaging the most minutes per person.
• Le Moyne College moved up from 10th to 6th place this year. They battled out the top East Coast position with Boston College throughout the month.
• The University of Scranton moved from 14th place last year to breaking the top 10 in 9th place this year. More participation and more minutes from last year as well.
• Regis University is small but mighty. They earned more minutes this year and had more participating. Plus, they moved from 20th place last year to 15th this year!

Top Mover Share

Lucia Zamecnik, Creighton University, has consistently been our overall top minute earner throughout the month. Moving more than 16,000 minutes, Lucia shares how being active has been a huge part of her life from a very young age, "I credit growing up in a very active family/community in Canada where nature really lead to an active lifestyle! In high school, it was everything from track and field, triathlons, cross country running to swimming and badminton. I went to the University of Nebraska, Omaha on a swimming scholarship. After I completed my swimming career, I looked for something to fill my time and that is when I started competing in Crossfit and weightlifting. Crossfit and weightlifting is where I earn the majority of my minutes and daily activity. I workout 2x a day, 6 days a week, along with taking care of the body with daily yoga and stretching, plus I love to be active outside (when the weather is cooperating) with my husband! We enjoy walking around the neighborhood, hiking, walking our dogs or fishing! It also helps that I work in the Recreation and Wellness department at Creighton, so I am constantly running around our buildings here on campus."

Stay Connected

Although the challenge is over, all participants are encouraged to share your stories and connect on social media. For information on next year’s challenge, contact the Go Move Challenge administrator, Suzy Kisylia, at skisylia@usfca.edu.  Who's in for 2022, our 10th anniversary and send me your ideas on how to commemorate this big milestone!