Both the seniors and the freshmen dominated during today’s Palo Alto High School Spirit Week activities, each respectively winning two rallies, one on the football field at lunch and one in the Big Gym during Advisory.
The first rally was on the football field and included the hula-hoop race and the new “Minute toWin It” game “Penny Hose.” The hula hoop race required that four girls and four boys from each grade hold hands and pass a hula hoop up and back the line. “Penny Hose” made its debut today and required one participant from each grade to start with their hands inside the leg holes of pantyhose and use only their hands and arms to retrieve a penny at the bottom of the garment.
The first round of the hula hoop race was freshmen vs. seniors and the second round was sophomores vs. juniors. The seniors swooped an easy win over the freshman but the sophomores vs. juniors race was much closer, with the sophomores pulling out a win. The losing bracket ended in a junior victory when they got their technique down. The winner’s bracket was exciting, with the sophomores and seniors moving at the same pace during the race. The final result was a tight victory for the seniors.
“It was pretty good overall, I mean we beat [the sophomores] in a close game for the hula hoop game,” senior Keller Chryst said. “I’m excited for [the rally] coming up.”
During “Penny Hose” the freshmen beat out the other contestants by pulling the penny out the fastest. Juniors, sophomores, and seniors followed suit in that order.
Later in the day, the three-point contest was held in the big gym. One girl and one boy were chosen from each grade and were given one minute to make as many three-point baskets as they could. The contest had six rounds, four of which were pool play and the last two being the loser bracket and the winner bracket. For the boys, freshman Miles Tention won, followed by junior Kevin Mullin, senior Noah Phillips and sophomore Oliver Svirsky. Senior Charlotte Alipate won for the girls, ahead of sophomore Maddy Atwater, freshman Lauren Koyoma and junior Gillian Chryst.
“I think it went really well and we actually were ahead of schedule, which was a first in Spirit Week this year,” spirit co-commissioner Maya Ben-Efraim said. “Usually with new games it’s a slower process because everyone has to learn the rules and everybody kind of doubts the participants at first, but the school has been so fantastic this year really embracing the new activities and moving along with the rallies at at a normal pace although we keep introducing new things. Everybody’s taking it awesome and I think that it’s really making it a more interesting experience.”
Today is the last day for float building; it is being held in the Auto Shop from four to 9 p.m. Today’s scores will be posted by Paly’s Associated Student Body after float building tonight. Keep checking The Paly Voice for more spirit week-related information.