An elite group of students walk among the masses at Iowa State. Their brightly colored T-shirts distinguish them from the crowd. Their shirts may not be the same design or the same color, but they all bear the same title. These students are wearing intramural champion T-shirts.

Each year, ISU Recreation Services designs a new T-shirt for the intramural champions. These shirts are not for sale – the only way to get one is to compete and win. The latest design, featuring the classic Cy design, is now being distributed to this year’s intramural winners.

About 2,300 shirts are given out each year. The shirts are available in a number of colors including black, light blue, gold, cardinal, kelly green, gray, bright pink and royal blue. The colors vary from year to year. For example, the most popular color from last year, navy, has been replaced by black this year.

Michael Fritz, junior in chemical engineering, has won eight intramural champion shirts. His favorite colors are light blue and kelly green, but he said he can be seen wearing any of his shirts on campus.

“They’re in my weekly rotation,” he said. “Since I have so many of them in my closet they make it through quite a bit.”

Some students choose to wear their champion shirts while playing intramural sports. Fritz compares this to wearing a band T-shirt at the band’s concert, but said it does have some effect.

“If the other team shows up wearing shirts they have already won then you know that they are going to be good. It’s an intimidation factor,” he said.

Fritz is not the only champion who often sports his shirts. Christine Dorenkamp, junior in statistics, has won 10 championship T-shirts in her time at Iowa State. Both Dorenkamp and her roommate Kellie Tholen, senior in agronomy, placed in the top five of students who received the most shirts last year. For both girls, the most rewarding victory was in five-player basketball.

“For the group of girls we play with, basketball was the sport we love the best so it meant a lot more for us to win that,” Tholen said.

Dorenkamp agreed, saying it was the culmination of a goal.

“I’ve gotten second place twice in that sport, so being able to win it was a good feeling,” she said.

The girls have not won any shirts this year, but they plan to continue to play intramurals in hopes that their team will once again become champions. Their team is scheduled to begin dodgeball next week, and they are confident in their skills.

“That’s one of the sports we won a shirt in, so we want to defend our championship,” Dorenkamp said.

Not all students have had the success of Fritz and Dorenkamp. Linda Marticke, intramural coordinator, related one incident when students made imitation champion shirts.

“The most interesting thing that I have seen is a group of students from Barton House in fall 2005,” Marticke said. “They had T-shirts made up that looked similar to the champion shirts except it had a big “NOT” above the intramural champion. On the back of the shirts it listed all the sports they had participated in with their team names from the 2004-05 school year. I thought it was very clever.”

Marticke said students and alumni often share stories with her about their intramural victories when they find out what her job is. Sometimes students attempt to buy shirts from her, but of course, she doesn’t allow that.

Instead she offers a hint to students who are still trying to win a champion shirt. Students can win a shirt without competing if they join the Rec Milers Club. Rec Milers is an independent exercise program that allows student to record their progress online. Students who reach 1,000 miles in one year win an intramural champion shirt.

The only other way to get a shirt is to win, and Dorenkamp encourages students to keep trying if they want to win a champion T-shirt.