Members of the track and field team perform a dance routine at the Terps Got Talent Show in the Xfinity Pavilion on Thursday.

University athletes took a less typical stage last night and challenged themselves to unexpected talents, helping to raise $3,000 for the Children’s National Health System.

Varsity athletes from many of this university’s sports teams — including football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, gymnastics and more — worked together to come up with performances at the student-athlete talent show in the Xfinity Center Pavilion, an event planned by the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

Acts ranged from playing Rock Band to glow-in-the-dark dancing, while an American Idol-esque duet took the win.

Judges included two of Terp Thon’s “miracle children;” UMD Crew President Dylan French; Crystal Langhorne, a member of this university’s 2006 national champion women’s basketball team; and Barry Gossett, a longtime donor to this university.  

“Almost every single student-athlete was here tonight and they were able to have fun while also giving back,” said Dani Kram, president of the SAAC. “Hearing them laugh and have a good time makes it all worth it.”

The female athletes performed acts that ran the gamut — softball player Skylynne Ellazar  performed an original hula dance, the gymnastics team covered themselves in glow sticks and danced with the lights out, soccer players performed the “Jingle Bell Rock” Mean Girls scene, and two members of the women’s lacrosse team dressed up like rapper Eminem and lip-synced “Lose Yourself.” 

As for the male athletes, two wrestlers squeezed into leggings to dance to a mash-up of songs from “YMCA” to “Ice Ice Baby” and “Hips Don’t Lie,” football offensive lineman Mike Minter sang a love song while playing the guitar, and men’s lacrosse players performed Weezer’s “Say it Ain’t So” on Rock Band while singing along.

The mix of performances drew about 575 people. Tickets cost $10 at the door and $5 for prepaid online orders.

“I know it’s kind of weird time right before finals and people are really busy,” said Lauren Wynant, Terp Thon’s community relations chairwoman, “but just seeing how many people came out in support all of us was really special.”

The $3,000 raised — more than Wynant expected — is a huge addition to Terp Thon’s spring 2015 dance marathon fundraising goal. Organizers hope to beat last year’s total of $429,012.89.

Many athletes cannot attend the dance marathon because they are in season or have workouts, Kram said, so this was a way for them to get involved.

“We started the whole event because we were looking for a way to bring all sports together,” she said. “Once we heard that Terp Thon was quickly growing and becoming an amazing organization, we wanted athletics to be able to come in.”

Senior Shade Pratt performed in two acts — the track team’s “Track and Fierce” dance and the soccer team’s comical exercise show — and made a cameo in the basketball team’s skit.

“We decided to do a bunch of different skits because we wanted to give the audience a variety,” the two-sport athlete and individual studies major said. “So we had to think outside the box. … I just love performing, making people laugh.”

Freshman Mike Cassidy said he thought his track teammates, first-place performers Alexandra Cimino and Pat Cole, did a great rendition of The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” but he enjoyed the entire night.

“I heard it was great last year and it really lived up to the hype,” the communication major said.

In her second year performing, Cici Onyekwere said her teammates on the “Track and Fierce” dance team had practiced hard so they could come out on top.

“This year we were trying to go for the win,” the junior mechanical engineer said, “It’s a good cause so we wanted to give a good performance.”

CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error, a previous version of this story incorrectly spelled Skylynne Ellazar’s name. The story has been updated to reflect this change.