By Justin Nunez

Tomorrow the 12th annual Kitna Wildcat Classic, sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors, kicks off.
The golf tournament is held each year in honor of Jon Kitna, former CWU quarterback who went on to play in the NFL for 16 years. It helps raise funds that go directly into the Wildcat Club which funds scholarships for CWU’s student athletes.

“It’s going to be exciting, of course Jon is going to be there so it’s going to be a great day,” CWU Athletic Director Dennis Francois said.

The Kitna Wildcat Classic is held at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum on the Rope Rider and Prospector golf courses. The event has sold out, with upwards of 250 golfers.

The tournament is a four person scramble and participants can choose between three different divisions: open, alumni, and senior. The open division is available to any player, three members of the foursome must be CWU alumni to be eligible for the alumni division, and participants must be at least 55-years-old to compete in the senior division.

This year, the classic has high hopes to set a revenue record upwards of $30,000.

“This is the largest annual fundraising event to generate athletic scholarships and enhance the student-athlete experience at Central,” Francois said via the CWU athletic website.

Directly following the tournament, aside from a banquet and awards ceremony, will be a Fund-A-Need auction. The proceeds will go towards a computer lab in the CHCI building, which is the new student-athlete academic success center.

The building used to be the CWU Chimposium but will now be used for student athletes to study and work on maintaining their grades.

“It will be a huge upgrade for our athletic department,” Francois said.
The athletic department hopes to raise another $30,000 through this Fund-A-Need auction.