Spring 2012 Officer Class

Texas Iron Spikes would like to introduce and congratulate the officer class of Spring 2012:

President: Adiel Escobedo

Vice President: Chris Davila

Risk Management Officer: Tyler Joseph

Financial Officer: Galen Blumenthal

Rookie Coordinator: Cameron Lawrence

Rookie Coordinator: Tommy Jehli

Service Officer: Jie Yong

Spirit Officer: Brad Caproni

Social Officer: Ryan Betori

Social Officer: Mason Hooper

Athletic Officer: Ben Shoemaker

Public Relations/Alumni Officer: Jake Lawrence

Administrative Officer: Marcus Miller

Third Tier Rookie Coordinator: John Hague

Pulling Our Weight

Iron Spikes and members of Texas Spirits teamed up and volunteered at the Special Olympics Texas Fire Truck Pull, hosted by Austin Firefighters, Austin Police Department and Travis County Sheriff's Office, on Saturday, November 12th.

The fundraising event featured a challenge of strength and stamina, in which teams of 12 people competed to see how fast they could pull a 55,000 pound fire truck a distance of 50 feet! Our team was comprised of the following people:

Matt Bowman

Nishant Jayant

Blake Barber

Chase Cobb

Tyler Joseph

Neven Simpson (Texas Spirits)

Ethan Thomson

Ryan Wilhelms

Rich Miller

Jon Lugo

Jackson Gould

Will Lenoir

Our team was able to pull the fire truck 50 feet in 17.46 seconds! Other members of Spikes and Spirits also helped out by cooking and serving chicken fajitas for all of the teams and SOTX volunteers. It was an exciting and rewarding experience for all involved!

Check out some more pictures below:

Over the Edge for SOTX

Iron Spikes members Tommy Jehli and Cameron Lawrence went "Over the Edge" on Tuesday, November 8th, repelling 15 stories down the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Austin as part of a fund raising event for Special Olympics Texas.

The event was presented by Fox 7 Austin, and participants were required to raise $1000 each in order to repel down the building. As winners of the Wes Johnson Award, bestowed upon the most outstanding Active member of the semester, Tommy and Cameron were chosen to represent our organization as participants.

Over the past few months, we worked hard to raise the $2000 to send Tommy and Cameron "Over the Edge." In addition to the donation, Iron Spikes members also volunteered at the event from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. They helped with registration, cleaned up trash and, most importantly, cheered on all of the repellers as they came down the building.

It was an exciting way for our organization to continue its support of SOTX. A special thanks goes out to Tommy and Cameron for participating and representing Iron Spikes so well!

Fall 2011 Parents' Weekend

On Saturday and Sunday, November 5th and 6th, Iron Spikes continued an annual tradition by hosting its Fall 2011 Parents' Weekend. The weekend featured a tailgate before the UT vs. Texas Tech game, a luncheon, and a presentation.

On Saturday, parents and relatives gathered with Iron Spike members in the parking lot outside the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum for an early morning tailgate. From 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., attendees met other parents and Iron Spikes and enjoyed brisket breakfast tacos. It was a great way for parents to see the way Iron Spikes are committed to promoting spirit for UT athletics.

The next day, parents and members made their way to Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa near Bastrop, TX for a special luncheon and presentation. The event was designed to not only reward guests with a fantastic meal at a great venue, but also give them an in-depth understanding of what our organization is really all about.

The luncheon meal included beef short ribs, mac-n-cheese, tortilla soup and many other delicious dishes, which received many great reviews. After eating, attendees were shown a short video (posted above) and several of our officers gave a presentation about our commitment to the fraternal, service and spirit pillars highlighted in our Vision. It was a very fun and informative event!

A special thanks goes out to the staff at Hyatt Lost Pines, as well as to our officers who helped make the weekend so successful. And most importantly, we would like to the thank all of the parents who made the trip to Austin to support their kids and find out a little bit more about Texas Iron Spikes!

On the Field for Gameday

On Saturday, October 29th, Brad Caproni and Galen Blumenthal were chosen to be on the field during the Texas vs. Kansas football game alongside the Texas Longhorn mascot, Bevo.

Brad and Galen are members of both Iron Spikes and Silver Spurs, which is an honorary service organization at The University of Texas at Austin responsible for taking care of Bevo.

Congratulations goes out to Brad and Galen for this great honor. We are proud to have such great representations of Iron Spikes!