Last Friday, Leadership’s Contest of Champions concluded in an epic finale between the boys basketball and the boys soccer teams in the Gladiator Games. The winner was decided by whichever team won two out of the three games: chariot racing, tug-of-war, and jousting. The boys soccer team emerged early from the tournament as champions with a score of 2-0, having won every match in the two games played.
The finale kicked off with Leadership’s take on chariot racing. Instead of traditional chariots and horses, the two teams competed using rope and pool ring floats. The two teams raced to pull a student sitting in one of the pool ring floats across the finish line. The soccer team swept basketball, winning both games in the best-of-three series. The first match ended in a nail-biting finish as soccer narrowly etched out the victory. Match two concluded with yet another victory for the soccer team, giving them an overall 1-0 lead going into the next event.
The next contest was a good old-fashioned game of tug-of-war in another best-of-three contest. The soccer team’s momentum carried on through the second event as they quickly won the first round. With the entire contest on the line, the basketball team added some reinforcements to the rope before the second round. However, the soccer team proved to be too strong and won the second round of tug-of-war, dominating the basketball team and winning the entire contest 2-0 .
When asked about the contest, senior and basketball player James Gray, “The whole experience was awesome. I am definitely going to miss events like these when I graduate.”
Junior and soccer player Joshua Pfistner said, “The tournament was really fun. It gave me a chance to participate in sports and activities I otherwise wouldn’t get the chance to play. It also created stronger bonds within and between sports teams.”
Junior and soccer player Ayden Wise added, “Athletes are competitive by nature, so knowing that everybody participating in the tournament was giving it their all made winning that much better.”
Junior Lucas Selvik, a Leadership student who helped organize the event, said, “While there were certainly challenges along the way, I’m overall pretty happy with how the event turned out. I’m looking forward to improving the tournament next year and giving students something to look forward to after AP tests.”
This Contest of Champions event closed out a terrific and successful year of Leadership activities. Make sure to congratulate the boys soccer team on their stunning victory!
