Once again, USA fleet member Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant employees took possession of the first place trophy in this year’s Red Wing YMCA Challenge Games. It is the fourth year in a row the Prairie Island team demonstrated that energy is not just a day job for them; it’s a way of life. On and off the job they live up to their team motto: “Work Hard, Play Harder.”

The YMCA Challenge Games is a week-long competition that mixes healthy living and healthy competition among local area businesses. Seventeen teams competed in the events this year with a variety of sports and ‘old field day’ favorites of kickball, dodgeball and volleyball, checkers, archery, trivia, Texas hold ‘em, and many others.

“Each year Prairie Island employees look forward to the event,” said Sue Moldenhauer, Prairie Island co-captain for the Challenge Games. “It’s a great team building activity and allows us to meet associates from local businesses who we don’t normally come in contact with on a day-to-day basis.”

Over 50 employees, spouses and retirees competed in this year’s events. An extra challenge for Xcel Energy employees this year was the forced outage underway at the time. Employees Sue Moldenhauer and Mary Niebeling were the co-captains for the event. “The challenge games are a way for us to be engaged with our communities,” said Moldenhauer.