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Spartans Visit Elementary School in Sioux Falls

Spartans Visit Elementary School in Sioux Falls
Posted: Mar 21, 2017

The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team visited Hayward Elementary School in Sioux Falls as part of the Elite Eight Community Service Event on Tuesday.

While each of the remaining Division II Tournament finalists visited a different school as part of the initiative, the Spartans were hardly out of their element, as St. Thomas Aquinas has earned seven consecutive East Coast Conference Community Cups.

Hayward Elementary quickly "adopted" the Spartans, who started the day by meeting a group of 3rd graders who lined the hall to welcome the players and team personnel, slapping high-fives while Queen's "We Are the Champions" blared over the loudspeakers.

From there, the team met with different classrooms in the 4th and 5th Grade. With "Go Spartans" among the positive messages in the rooms, they read stories, helped solve math problems, and had a question and answer sessions with students and teachers.

 

At the end of the classroom sessions, students were able to have the players and coaches sign autographs on cards provided by the NCAA and an Elite 8 basketball, signed by the Spartan players and coaches was presented to the principal for display in the school.

The community service event comes on the heels of Monday's night's welcome banquet, which was highlighted by STAC's Jules de Courtenay being named as the Elite 90 winner for academic excellence.

 

All of this leads to the quarter-finals, which will take place on Wednesday at the Sanford Pentagon. The Spartans will play the third game of the day, squaring off with Northwest Missouri State, with tip time set for 7:00 pm Eastern.