Casey Cougar advances to finals in mascot challenge

MVNU’s Casey Cougar advanced to the Crossroads League Mascot Challenge finals this morning, beating Indiana Wesleyan University’s Wesley Wildcat 1,866-799.

Casey Cougar will challenge the winner of the other semifinal contest in the final round.

Voting in that semifinal, between Marian University’s Knightro and Huntington University’s Norm the Forester, opened this morning and is scheduled to end tomorrow.

The Crossroads League championship will take place Feb. 13 to 15, and the winner will be announced on Feb. 16.

The Crossroads League began the competition between nine of the 10 member schools on Jan. 26 as part of the nationwide NAIA Mascot Challenge. The Goshen College Maple Leafs were not represented in the challenge due to not having a mascot.

The opening round of voting began on Facebook. Fans were invited to “like” the photos on the Crossroads League official page to cast their vote.

Casey Cougar finished with 133 votes, earning 4th place. IWU took first with 314 “likes.”

The top eight mascots advanced to the quarterfinals which took place through Twitter polls from Jan. 31 through Feb. 3.

Casey Cougar, with 377 votes, defeated Sir Red from Grace College (334 votes) to advance to the semifinals.

In the semis, Twitter users then had 24 hours to cast their votes for either Casey Cougar or Wesley Wildcat. Voting ended at 10 a.m.

The winner of the league contest will be announced on Feb. 16 and will move on to compete in the NAIA Mascot Challenge.