With the beginning of the NCAA basketball tournament as its backdrop, Christian Brothers Academy raised over $34,000 during its second annual March Madness Giving Challenge.

The week-long campaign featured a bracket-style tournament in which each of the school’s 53 alumni classes competed to show their school pride. All funds raised go toward supplementing the Academy’s ever-growing list of academic endeavors and extracurricular activities.

After five days of tremendous alumni competition that saw 349 individuals participate and over $34,000 raised, CBA’s Class of 1982 was crowned the “2017 Challenge Champion.”

“Congratulations to the Class of 1982 for winning the second annual March Madness competition,” CBA President Brother Frank Byrne, F.S.C. said. “I’m grateful to all of the alumni who participated in this year’s event and raised over $34,000 for CBA. Go Colts!”

To participate, alumni amass points for their class by donating and rallying classmates to do the same. Every alum who joins the Challenge receives a point for his class total, while cumulative donation totals earned each year more points once they surpassed certain designated amounts.

Monday and Tuesday served as the first round of the Challenge, with all 53 classes competing. On Wednesday, the top sixteen were entered into the Sweet Sixteen bracket, which was narrowed down to Friday’s Final Four championship round.

The Class of 1982 was followed closely by the 2016 champion, the Class of 1984. The classes of 1979 and 2000 rounded out the top four.

These four classes, alongside the two classes with the biggest participation jumps, will be honored at an invite-only Jersey Shore Summer Celebration in June. Last year’s event featured a rooftop open bar at the Asbury Festhalle.

This year, the classes of 1985 and 2013 saw the largest increase in participation, with 1985 going from three to 36 participants and 2013 jumping from six to 31 competitors.

Christian Brothers Academy would like to thank all the alumni who accepted the challenge in 2017!