Celina Lee

Senior Clara Hoffman works on an assignment in class with her senior elimination beach ball touching her face. The new rules require remaining players to touch their balls on their head as to not be eliminated from the game. Hoffman said she has gone great lengths to get her target out. “I’ve gone to my friends’ houses to eliminate them,” Hoffman said.

Whether it be before the bell rings, at a movie theater or even in the safe-haven of homes — no senior left standing is safe. Out of the 371 participating seniors, only 30 remain in Palo Alto High School’s annual elimination game. 

The rules of the game couldn’t be simpler: hold on to your inflatable beach ball to not be eliminated. According to Kennedy Do, senior class vice president and event organizer, the game is harder than it looks. 

“At first, I didn’t think that it would be too difficult to keep the ball in my hand, but people can eliminate you at any second,” Do said. “I was recording a video of my friend eliminating her target and before I could even put the ball back in my hand, I got eliminated.”  

For the first time this year, the elimination game is being hosted on the “Splashin” app, which allows for a more entertaining game. According to Do, hosting the game on the app creates a more enjoyable, less error-prone experience. 

“Previous elimination games were managed manually via Google Sheets,” Do said. “Transitioning to the app has significantly streamlined the process. With automatic target assignments, the event organizers can also participate. Senior elimination is one of our final traditions as students, and it’s a fun and memorable way to interact with our peers.”

Ethan Wang, one of the last seniors left standing, said he has managed to stay in the game through both strategy and luck. 

“The game has been a lot of fun, especially plotting with and against my friends trying to eliminate peers,” Wang said. “As the game has progressed it definitely has gotten a lot harder and luck has had a lot to do with me staying in the game.”

As of press time, here are the final 30 seniors left standing, by alphabetical order: 

1. Aditya Hiremath
2. Aiden Chen
3. Anna van Valkenburg
4. Briar Dorogusker 
5. Charlie Chen
6. Christian Saleh
7. Clara Hoffman 
8. Coco Vonderhaar 
9. Eduardo Correa
10. Eliza Stoksik 
11. Ethan Wang 
12. Gabe Sanchez
13. Hanu Thakur
14. Hiram Garcia
15. Justin Han
16. Kaylie Cho
17. Kelly Tanaka
18. Lily Jeffery 
19. Lucy Griffin 
20. Nick Feitzinger
21. Peter Fetter
22. Peyton Wehner
23. Rebecca Doran
24. Sadie Voorhees
25. Sam Janik 
26. Samantha Wu
27. Turner McFarland
28. William Hickey
29. William Tu
30. Zachary Crystal