TOWSON, Md. - For the 11th consecutive year, Towson University student-athletes participated in a blood drive Monday as part of their affiliation with the Colonial Athletic Association.

The University Union on the Towson campus was the scene for the annual "Have a Heart" Blood Drive Challenge, started in 2002 by the league presidents as a way to emphasize blood donation. The campus-wide blood drive was again successful, as 291 people presented to give blood. The Tigers also had 162 student-athletes volunteer to work the drive. 

Notable attendees at the event included Brian Boyle, a former swimmer and bodybuilder who suffered severe injuries as a result of a car crash in his late teens. Yet after losing 60 percent of his blood in that nearly fatal accident and being in a coma for two months, Boyle continued to compete in Ironman competitions, including the Hawaii Ironman in 2007.

Boyle is a two-time winner of the spokesperson of the year award given by the American Red Cross.