Gonzaga student wins plane tickets to Final Four game in Phoenix

On Tuesday, Gonzaga University senior Amanda Hardt surely had a lot of friends. After all, she can take three of them to Phoenix to see the Final Four basketball game Saturday.

Monday evening, the university announced a contest on Facebook, offering four plane tickets to Phoenix as the prize. Students were asked to submit a short video about why they should be the one to win and what they have done to contribute to the Gonzaga community.

The contest had a deadline of 3 p.m. Tuesday and by that evening Hardt’s video had risen to the top of the 19 received.

“That was pretty exciting news,” Hardt said.

The prize included plane tickets, which have risen to more than $1,000, but Hardt said she and her three friends already had tickets to the game.

“We were just wondering how to get there,” she said. “This opportunity was so perfect because we’re all seniors.”

Hardt said many of the 700 students who received tickets to the game are in the same situation. They were so excited to get the game tickets that they didn’t think about having to make a 20-hour drive or buy an expensive plane ticket, she said.

She and her friends will stay with her parents, who live in Phoenix. Hardt said she hasn’t been home in two years because she can’t afford a plane ticket at it’s normal price, let alone the inflated prices in place this week.

“It’s all coming together,” she said. “Somebody is smiling down on me today, I guess.”

Hardt said she is grateful to Zags fan Phil Shudarek for providing the tickets.

“I love being a Zag, and I love the basketball team,” she said.