The Iowa State community gathered on Central Campus Wednesday night to celebrate the life of former Iowa State women’s golf Big 12 champion Celia Barquín Arozamena.

A few of Barquín Arozamena’s classmates, teammates, professors and coaches shared their individual stories of how Celia impacted their lives, while hundreds from all walks of life packed the north side of the Campanile to pay their respects. Among them were some of Barquín Arozamena’s fellow student-athletes, as members of nearly every university-sponsored team attended the vigil. 

While not every athlete knew Barquín Arozamena personally, it seemed as if everyone at least knew of her, or knew someone that was friends with her. Some athletes had seen her in the stands at their team’s sporting events, making the sudden loss even harder to comprehend.

“It’s kind of hard to wrap your head around it,” said Sydney Ronald, a redshirt senior on the swimming and diving team. “Especially knowing that she’s part of our family and part of our Cyclone community, and just knowing that she was taken from us immediately is hard to grasp.”

In the face of an event this tragic and senseless, Ronald and teammate Jessi Storer said it’s the sense of community that has emerged that has been beautiful to see.

Several people at the vigil, including Storer and Ronald, had never talked to or even met Barquín Arozamena, yet they and others felt obligated to be there to mourn the loss of their fellow Cyclone. For the two, knowing the community will come together to help each other through a tragedy brings a sense of comfort.

“It’s a really good feeling knowing that our Cyclone family is a big family, and that we have each other’s backs,” Storer said.

To further show the family aspect, several of the teams on campus are planning to honor Barquín Arozamena’s memory in some capacity in the coming weeks and months.

The football team will wear a “CBA” decal on its helmets and has asked that all fans wear gold or yellow to the game Saturday, as yellow was Barquín Arozamena’s favorite color. Volleyball coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said the team will also likely do something to honor Barquín Arozamena’s memory, although it’s still undetermined what that will be.

Ronald and Storer say that the swimming and diving team will wear Barquín Arozamena’s initials on their swimsuits throughout the season and wear gold caps at some point. Talyn Lewis, a redshirt sophomore on the softball team, added that her team will also be wearing decals on their helmets, while simultaneously wearing yellow ribbons on their jerseys this weekend.

These acts of support are simple, but they all hold a powerful message of solidarity that fills these athletes with a sense of pride, while reminding them of what makes being a Cyclone so special.

“It’s really nice to see and definitely reminds us why we chose this school and this campus,” Lewis said.”We’re definitely playing for her this weekend and will be in the future too.”