GREEN RIVER — Green River High School has won back-to-back State Blood Drive competitions, narrowly surpassing Rock Springs High School by 6 pints of blood this year.

Green River High School collected 374 pints, while Rock Springs High School followed closely with 368 pints. Other schools in Wyoming also participated, but their totals were significantly lower. According to Marisa Kalinski, a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher and student council adviser at Green River High School, the third-place finisher in Gillette collected 99 pints.

Kalinski said the competition takes place in multiple communities across the state, including Casper, Cheyenne and Gillette, where high schools compete against their rivals before their totals are entered into the statewide contest.

In addition to recognition, the winning school receives a traveling trophy that it keeps for one year. Each year’s winner is engraved on the trophy.

The event highlights a long-standing rivalry between Green River and Rock Springs. Since the competition began in 2009, only those two schools have had their names added to the traveling trophy, with the exception of the inaugural winner from Campbell County.

Kalinski said the impact of the blood drive goes beyond competition. Vitalant estimates that each pint of donated blood can save up to three adult lives or as many as seven infants.

“With the numbers that we’re raising, we’re helping thousands and thousands of people,” she said.

Kalinski credited the community for the continued success of the event and encouraged ongoing participation in future blood drives.

“It would not be possible without them,” she said. “We want to keep it in Sweetwater County, so we should keep donating blood.”