Juniors Emilee Osagiede (front), Shamelia Clay, Lindsay Black, Lily Seedman, Sam Moses, Christian Lonsky, Benjamin Macias and Tori Prati (back) compete against the seniors in the final round of tug-of-war. Juniors finished the fourth day of Spirit Week with 892 points. – Jeffrey LuJuniors snatched the lead by scoring 476 points today, upsetting the senior class dominance by winning the football field events on the fourth day of Palo Alto High School’s 2010 Spirit Week.

The juniors passed a hula-hoop to first place, scoring 150 points. Seniors and freshmen tied for second to each earn 50 points. Participants formed 10-person teams that held hands and stood in a line, racing to pass a hula hoop through the chain.

“That was fun,” junior Emy Kelty, who participated in the event, said. “We needed a victory. It took a lot of teamwork and athleticism.”

Students then competed in tug-of-war through teams of four boys and four girls from each grade. The junior team, composed of Sam Moses, Christian Lonsky, Tori Prati, Benjamin Macias, Emilee Osagiede, Lily Seedman, Lindsay Black and Shamelia Clay, managed to pull out a victory over the sophomores.

“We were better prepared [than the sophomores],” junior Tori Prati said. “We planned our strategy before, and we had a good drive to win.”

In the second round, seniors tugged stronger than the freshmen, earning 175 points. The freshmen felt that the loss was predictable, but their energy demonstrated a dogmatic resilience.

“We kind of expected it, seeing as they have bigger guys and bigger girls,” freshman Kian McHugh said. “But we have better spirit.”

Juniors overcame the seniors in the final round, scoring 250 total points. The seniors did not show any disappointment, but promised that this would be the only victory against them.

“It’s the only activity the juniors are going to win all year,” senior Michael Cullen said. “So it’s no big deal.”

For “best dressed”, juniors Tremaine Kirkman and Maddie Berger impressed the judges and earned 60 points. The senior class, which placed second, walked down the bleachers onto the track to show off their outfits.

Associated Student Body Vice President Uma Veerappan thought the event went smoothly, commenting on the student body’s overall enthusiasm.

“Everyone was pumped and totally into it,” Veerappan said. “Even though we are competing [as students], we [ASB] bring the classes together.”

In Jar Wars, seniors have taken the lead with 9772 points, a tremendous improvement from their previous score of -198. Juniors came in second with 3869 points, freshmen in third with 1338 points and sophomores last with 576 points. The grade with the most Jar Wars points by Friday will be awarded an additional 150 points to Spirit Week point totals. Donation jars are in the library.

The final point tallies for day four of Spirit Week are as follows: juniors in first place with 852 points, seniors in second with 781, sophomores in third with 557 and freshmen placing last with 450 points, according to ASB reports. Click here to see a graph of the results.