Organizers of the event Ashton Henderson and Lorenzo Guess of MSU athletics were happy to see the community come together.

“It’s important for us as a department. One of our core values is being a value-added community partner, and events like this bring people together, all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities," Henderson said. 

The events were overseen by MSU’s strength and conditioning coaches from various sports. The competition aimed to unite the CrossFit and Spartan communities, and to promote health and wellness by giving participants a chance to train for the event.

“I think it’s dope, getting the opportunity to work with everybody,” Guess said. ”You're bringing people on campus who normally don’t be on campus."

Chelsea DeLong, who works at F45 Training in East Lansing, won the overall competition for the women. Gabe Larner, a private coach at M43 Fitness in Lansing, won overall for the men and the two were rewarded with the Spartan Iron Challenge belts.

The event brought a lot of noteworthy people to campus, including former Michigan State running back Javon Ringer, who played from 2005 to 2008.

“It’s competitive but it’s fun, like, we're just having fun,” Ringer said. “The family atmosphere that has always been here, like it was today, has been the exact same way that it was back when I was in school.”

The event’s open-door policy gave attendees a rare opportunity to enter the spaces where MSU’s student-athletes work long hours every day. 

“It gives everybody a chance, one, to come together, but then also come in here,” Ringer said. “I'm sure there’s a lot of people on campus that have probably never even been in the indoor facility because this is usually just for athletes who go to the school.”

Next year, the organizers are hoping they can generate more exposure for the event and include more students, student-athletes and others in the surrounding community, Guess said.

“I’m excited for what this will look like next year because the sky's the limit,” Henderson said.