This past Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of the death of a local teenager, the son of Shippensburg University’s head football coach.

On August 20, 2024, Levi Maciejewski, the son of head football coach Mark Maciejewski passed away. A year later, the community came together to honor his spirit and remember his presence through Lift Like Levi, an event hosted by the Live Like Levi Foundation.

Family, friends, Shippensburg University athletes and members of the community gathered at Seth Grove Stadium to “Lift, Lap, and Lunge” in honor of Levi. 

Shippensburg University’s Director of Sports Performance Dennis Kerstetter helped plan and organize the event. He was grateful for all the community support. 

“This is a tremendous visual to see, to celebrate his life and the life that he lived, the tenacity and the spirit and everything that that young man had and I think it’s awesome that so many people were able to come out here and do this today,” said Kerstetter.

The lift was organized into five “flight” times. The earliest time drew the largest crowd at seven in the morning while the last group worked out four hours later at eleven. Over 100 people registered to exercise throughout the morning. 

Within the flight times, there were four levels or tiers of workouts that individuals could choose from. These included tier one as a traditional body weight workout, tier two requiring a medicine ball, tier three introducing lighter weights and tier four dealing with heavy weights. 

Participants sported the foundation’s bright blue t-shirts and bracelets as they completed the workout level of their choice while listening to Levi’s playlist comprised of mostly country music. 

The motivation for completing the challenge united support for the family and the foundation. 

Community member and tier three participant Cole Trn said, “[I’ve] grown up with the Maciejewski family, beautiful family, beautiful cause, so I felt like coming out to support.” 

Sophomore Elliot Oliphant on the women’s track and field team also completed the level three exercises. Oliphant said that although she did not personally know the family, she felt connected through Shippensburg Athletics. After contemplating her attendance at the lift, she ultimately decided “there’s no reason to not do it…it’s obviously for a very good cause, so I want to give it the best that I can.”

Within each tier, the number of repetitions for specific exercises were based on numbers important to Levi. The first three exercises represented his date of birth: one, eighteen, and then eleven. Next was thirteen for the age he was when he passed. Followed by a 420-meter run/walk referencing Levi’s baseball number (42) and the number of his favorite player, Jackie Robinson. 

Before the workout, Tricia Maciejewski, Levi’s mom, delivered a small speech. Towards the end of her message, she said: “While you’re working out today, I encourage you to remember the significance of each of those numbers. Let your mind wander to a time you spent with Levi, a memory you created together or a way you’ve been impacted by his beautiful life.”

The Shippensburg University Marching Band gathered to perform “Cadillac in the Skies” and “Amazing Grace” before the workouts commenced. 

Throughout the event, people were consistently challenging themselves physically and emotionally as they reflected on the loss of a fellow community member in hopes of making Levi proud. 

“He definitely would of went around and told people they could of went harder today for sure,” Kerstetter said. “I think he’s looking down right now and he’s proud and he’s super appreciative of the fact that so many people came out in his name.”

Registration for the event was free; however, the organization was collecting donations. The money raised goes towards enhancing and giving back to the community. For those that could not make it to the event in person, there was an option to participate virtually following along with the workouts and posting to social media with the #LiveLikeLevi and #LiftLikeLevi.  

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