In his first week as president of Penn State, Graham Spanier was eating lunch when he was told Fredina Ingold was an accomplished racquetball player. Spanier said he was just being polite by telling Ingold, "We ought to play sometime."

Now, 13 years and nine intramural co-ed racquetball championship titles later, the two are probably glad they were so polite.

Seeking their 10th title in 11 years, Spanier and Ingold will compete for the intramural championship at 7 tonight in Rec Hall. Philip LaDuke (senior-kinesiology) and Melissa DelVecchio (senior-kinesiology), two members of Penn State's club racquetball team, will challenge the duo.

For the first time, this year's tournament allows members of the club to compete, which LaDuke said, gave him and DelVecchio a chance to take down Spanier and Ingold.

"We plan on winning," LaDuke said. "But it's not do or die. We're just out here to have fun. His partner is a really good player, so we'll see what we can do against them."

Spanier and Ingold played each other soon after their meeting in 1995, and Spanier says, "I could never play her again and expect to compete with her."

So, they decided to enter the intramural racquetball championship.

"I thought, 'Gee, if I was on the same team as she was, that would be good,' " Spanier said.

Ingold, the director of athletics at Penn State-Altoona, said she was excited to get back to playing racquetball again with Spanier, since she was pregnant and had stopped playing since her championship days.

"It was because of President Spanier that I started playing again," Ingold said. "It was fun because there was no pressure."

With the championship on the line, these two administrators try and find time in their extremely packed schedules to get together. Scheduling practice times weeks in advance enables the two to find some time to play together.

Spanier and Ingold have a group of more than 20 people whom they try to get at least four people to practice, Spanier said, since they're all busy people. With many obligations and responsibilities, Spanier also agreed that racquetball serves as sort of a stress reliever for him.

"If I wasn't able to do this, I don't know when I would be able to do any exercising," Spanier said.

"With my schedule, there are certain sports that I wouldn't be able to do ... wouldn't be able to do golf, you need four of five hours for that. [With racquetball] you can get a lot of exercising in an hour."

Ingold, though playing with Spanier for more than a decade now, admits she's still in awe of her partner.

"I think it's incredible that the president would get into this," Ingold said. "I've been here 30 years and I've just never been around a president like this. It's wonderful for the students."