Friendly competition was the mood this Saturday as a group of about 200 Penn State and Ohio State University students came together to volunteer throughout Centre County.

Each school chanted cheers and joked about who would win the football game during the third Penn State-Ohio State "Competing on the Field, Collaborating in the Community" service event.

"There was definitely the competitive spirit there," said Kim Kutschbach, an Ohio State senior who co-chaired the event for her school. Kutschbach said her school encouraged freshmen to attend as a way to get them involved in community events.

The event brought students together to volunteer on national Make a Difference Day, founded by USA Weekend Magazine. This Saturday marked the 11th year of the event, which falls on the 4th Saturday of each October.

The visitors from Ohio arrived Friday night, had dinner with Penn State students, toured the campus with Lion Ambassadors and enjoyed Creamery ice cream. They spent the night in an MBNA Student Recreation Center room after attending some Late-Night Penn State events.

"It was good. Everybody was really open to meeting new people," said Kayley Steinke (freshman-elementary education), who helped recruit Penn State students to volunteer and acted as a team leader for her group.

Steinke said students from both universities were eager to learn about each other's school traditions and activities.

Students met at 7 a.m. the next day for a kickoff breakfast, then split up into 15 groups and went to sites for about two hours of service. Groups made Thanksgiving and Halloween tray favors for hospitals, wrapped giant ornaments in twinkle lights for downtown streets and went to local parks and recreation areas to clean trails and pathways. Another group painted and mulched at a local Little League field.

Talia Givens, an Ohio State freshman who came through her school's Office of Minority Affairs, said that although she enjoyed her campus tour and the Late-Night events, her favorite part of the weekend started with a mishap.

The transportation scheduled to move her group to campus from its service site did not arrive on time, and many group members crammed themselves into someone's vehicle.

"We had to use teamwork to figure out how to get back to campus," Givens said.

As kickoff time neared, the entire group reconvened for a tailgate in East Halls before the students moved to Beaver Stadium to sit in their respective cheering sections.

Penn Staters used their student ticket coupons to see the game. Ohio State students bought discounted tickets in the visitor seating section or used tickets paid for by organizations at their school.

On the Penn State side, the event was coordinated through the AT&T Center for Service Leadership. Students posted fliers to attract participants, many of whom had never been involved in a program like this before. The center hosts other one-day service activities four times each semester.

Ohio State students have teamed up with other Big Ten schools, such as Purdue University, to do similar "student exchange" service projects on Make a Difference Day and other football weekends. Last year, Penn State students traveled to Ohio State for a day of service and a game.

As for losing the game, the visiting students said they were let down, but overall the weekend was still worthwhile.

"It was bittersweet," Kutschbach said. "The Buckeyes lost, but it was good to see Joe Paterno make history."