Pep Rally has always been one of Mackenzie Gress’s favorite parts of THON Weekend. But this year, she’s experiencing it from a different perspective.

After years of participating in the Pep Rally, Athlete Hour, and spending time in the stands to support her teammates who danced in years prior, the redshirt senior women’s soccer goalkeeper joins hundreds of dancers on the floor this year to represent the University Park Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) during her final THON Weekend.

Gress is one of four student-athletes selected to represent the SAAC during THON Weekend this year, standing in for more than 800 members of Penn State’s athletic student body.

“It’s insane,” Gress said. “It gives me a great deal of pride to be able to say I’m representing that.”

Her involvement in THON has continued to grow year on end.

“This will be my fifth time doing Pep Rally,” Gress said. “The last two years, I’ve been in the stands a lot more. Last year, I was here for probably like 10-12 hours just supporting our teammates who danced.”

This year, stepping on the floor marked a full-circle moment for Gress in her Penn State career. Her decision to take the floor this THON Weekend holds extra meaning.

“My aunt was diagnosed with cancer in 2016,” Gress said. “Throughout her whole cancer journey, she literally was just such a light and support for everyone within her community and other cancer communities. She was in every possible Facebook group. She would be FaceTiming people to help. It just really inspired me as someone who needed that support so much.”

Gress even watched her aunt give her all to others, even when she was down.

“Even on her bad days, she showed up for other people,” Gress mentioned. “I wanted to continue to carry that spirit.”

After her aunt passed away in December 2024, Gress remembers watching THON Weekend and realizing she wanted to partake.

“I remember just watching THON in 2025, being like ‘I need to do this to carry her spirit through’ and just continue to be that light and hope that she was… Just being a positive light and hope for people, and representing something bigger than myself — representing Penn State Athletics, representing Penn State soccer, representing my family, and just being able to do something for other people.”

The support from her teammates means everything.

“My teammates are awesome,” Gress said. “They have a whole schedule of people over here supporting me. When I was walking in today, they were all here.”

Her parents even made fatheads of her face so she could spot them in the stands.

“When I walked in, I knew exactly where they were,” Gress said.

Beyond her immediate circle, the Penn State community as a whole has shown up for Gress. She surpassed her original $10,000 fundraising goal, raising over $10,235 ahead of THON Weekend, and has since raised her goal to $15,000.

“I think it’s just so cool,” she said. “All the Penn State women’s soccer alumni that have donated — names I’ve seen like Britt Eckerstrom and Sam Coffey. You really realize that you are a part of something so much bigger than yourself…. You see all the stories of the frats and sororities, people competing to do this and raising money to be able to get a spot to dance in THON. It’s such a great honor, and something we all know we’re going to carry with us the rest of our lives.”

As a senior, Gress is taking in her final chance to experience THON from the floor.

“I think it just wraps such a nice bow on it all,” she said. “This is the last time I could’ve danced in THON, just kind of going out with a bang.”

After spending years supporting teammates from the stands, performing during Pep Rally, and now representing more than 800 student-athletes on the floor, the moment feels fitting.

“I feel really great pride and gratitude to be able to represent that and go into the next phase of my life being a tried-and-true Penn Stater who stands in THON.”