After two years of defeat, WKU beat rival Middle Tennessee State University during this year’s “Blood Battle” blood drive. WKU students donated 605 pints of blood to MTSU’s 585.

From Monday until Wednesday, chairs lined the basketball court in the Preston Center, where the American Red Cross set up shop for students to donate blood. The two universities competed to donate the most pints. As an added bonus, donors were also able to enter a raffle for a $50 gas card.

Among the staff was Operation Supervisor June Douglas. Douglas had helped out with the previous blood drive competition last year.

Douglas said on Tuesday that WKU had received plenty of donations from students on Monday, exceeding their quota by two but weren’t receiving as many that day.

“Yesterday we had a real busy day,” Douglas said. “But today it seemed slower.”

Robert Wagner, donor recruitment supervisor for the American Red Cross, said his organization has been working with WKU for a long time.

“We’ve been doing blood drives at WKU for over 15 years, “ he said.

Those donating blood lied down as phlebotomists hooked them up to donation machines. Some students drank soda or clenched stress balls as their blood was drawn.

One of the students donating for the first time was Bowling Green freshman Casey Fortney. He said he was nervous about being a donor, but is happy he went through with it.

“No matter how uncomfortable I might have felt through the experience, I know in the end that I’ve done something for someone else,” said Fortney.