With the help of students, for the third time in eight years, the MSU-Penn State Blood Challenge victory was won by MSU.

The drive was held from Nov. 5 to Nov. 19, with Penn State donating 1,525 pints of blood compared with MSU’s 1,548. MSU won the contest twice before. In 1999, the last time MSU won, 1,769 pints of blood were donated, while Penn State donated 1,750 pints.

A trophy will be awarded during a pregame celebration at the MSU-Penn State football game on Saturday.

Ann Kammerer, communications specialist for the Great Lakes Blood Service of the American Red Cross, said support from the media and students made the drive successful.

“We had a lot of college students who came and gave blood for the first time,” she said. “The MSU-Penn State Challenge was an opportunity for people to come back and donate a second time or donate the first time and feel like they made a difference.

“I feel a lot of the reason we brought the trophy home this year was the energy of the students,” she said.

Kammerer said cooperation from campus and community residents helped win the challenge.

“We had tremendous support from the greater Lansing community,” Kammerer said.

“We really saw Lansing and East Lansing pull together to collect blood for a common purpose. We had a lot of positive energy that people had put toward it. Alumni, students and Spartan fans all came together and made us victorious this year.”