After a strong performance during the lunch rally and a victory in tug-of-war today, the second day of Palo Alto High School’s Spirit Week, the senior class is poised to jump ahead in the standings.

As part of “Salad Dressing Day,” seniors came to school in togas, juniors wore tropical-themed apparel, sophomores dressed as cowboys and freshmen donned athletic clothes. The lunchtime rally, in addition to including cheers and a best-dressed competition, featured a tug-of-war contest. In the first round, the seniors quickly defeated the freshmen, and the sophomores pulled an upset victory over the juniors. In the championship game, the seniors prevailed over the sophomores to take first place. In the consolation game, the juniors edged out the freshmen.

Junior Jasmine Abeyta, who participated in the activity, said that the juniors were disadvantaged because their participants were relatively smaller than those from the sophomore class.

“We’re the only grade that doesn’t have any really large people,” Abeyta said. “So that was one factor that contributed to our downfall.”

In addition to their second place finish in tug-of-war, the sophomores also had a strong showing during the rally today.

“My grade level [sophomores] had a lot more spirit than last year,” said sophomore Nicholas Zhao. “This was very strange compared to last year, because we came in last.”

Senior Reid Walters, one of the Associated Student Body’s spirit commissioners, was pleased with the results of the lunch rally.

“Logistically, it [tug-of-war] was really easy to set up and it’s a tradition here, so it was fun,” she said. “Of course, I am happy that the seniors did well, but I am also happy that the entire school was really excited. The second day, the freshmen also started getting it together which was exciting, so we’ll see how the scores end up today.”