By Kimberly Alexsandra Madrigal

Dressed to the nines, ready to wine, dine and spend some dimes in the name of student athletics; it was the 39th annual Cal Poly Humboldt Athletics Auction and the venue was packed to the brim. On April 5th, dozens of athletes greeted and welcomed donors as they made their way into the Sapphire Palace at Blue Lake Casino. 

Alex Cappa, HSU football alum and NFL Superbowl champion, and Robin Meiggs, one of Cal Poly Humboldt’s most decorated coaches and National Rowing Hall of Fame recipient, were among some of the special guests honored at the event.

From wine-bottle bundles, to San Francisco Giants seats behind home plate, to a battery-powered kids’ Ford Raptor and autographed Alex Cappa NFL jerseys, there was something for everyone at the live and silent auctions. Proceeds from this event fully fund student athlete scholarships and assist in the overall success of the athletic program. 

Mark and Teisha Gwerder, second time attendees, describe themselves as distant supporters of CPH athletics. 

“We love the way the community is involved with the athletics program and the school,” Gwerder said. “Very community based and that’s appealing to us.” 

Olivia Huynh, a second-year psychology student and coxswain on Cal Poly Humboldt’s women’s rowing team, shared how important it is as a student athlete to have the community back you up. 

“It’s really important — I think Humboldt is a really small community, so having as many donors to support us is really helpful,” Huynh said. “There’s a lot of student athletes at Humboldt, which makes up a huge part of the student population, because there are not that many of us. So having many opportunities to have scholarships and improve our equipment as a smaller school brings a lot more people to the program.”

Kimberly Alexsandra Madrigal is a 3rd year journalism student from Fresno, CA. She enjoys hot girl walks, traveling, shopping, live music, casual insta’s and being a living legend.