All the activities during the week culminated in the annual Pepfest, an hour of competition, fun and Spartan spirit right before the homecoming carnival.
Replacing the traditional ping pong tournament was a new tug-of-war competition. Student Activities Council (SAC) president Nijah Johnson and SAC representative Raina Heidkamp announced and explained the rules, while this year’s Spartan mascots, Peter Ostrem and Patrick Wall, commentated on each of the events.
The first two tug-of-war match-ups were freshman vs. juniors and two senior teams against each other. The yellow rope became taut as each team pulled on it with all their strength. The juniors (Sofie Dogwill, Sofia Rivera, Peony Steele, Sam Hilton, Asha Peckosh, Aldegundo Brenneman and Brooks Geiger) and the senior team (Fletcher Coblentz, Greyson Sale, Johnny Rog, Phillippe Cristobal, Allan Wang, Ben Lee and Cutler Crook) battled it out in the final. The juniors put up a valiant fight as the seniors put on consistent pressure, ultimately pulling them over the line to win the championship.
However, no homecoming event is complete without a challenge from the faculty. Much to the delight of the crowd, Heidkamp welcomed Jack Kinseth, Rachel Yost-Dubrow, Stuart Arey, Dr. Luis Ottley, Alexis Irish, Laurel Ward, Joseph Martin, Minnie Lee and Dr. Varsha Venkatasubramanian to challenge the senior team. At first, it seemed like an evenly matched lineup, neither side budging an inch. Suddenly, Crook, stationed at the end of the rope, lost his grip and gave the upper hand to the faculty. Slowly but surely, the seniors staggered over the edge, giving the win to the faculty team, to the excitement of the underclassmen.
Next up, the relay race consisted of three tasks: finding a pool noodle blindfolded, balancing a ping pong ball on a spoon, and the wheelbarrow (One person holding up the legs of another as they crawl on their hands to form the human equivalent of a wheelbarrow). Four representatives represented their grade as each team raced up and down half the length of the gym. It was unclear who was in the lead throughout the challenge, but towards the end, the juniors wheelbarrowed to victory.
This year’s captain challenge featured 17 fall sports captains, competing to obtain particular objects from the crowd and returning to their seats at the center of the gym as fast as possible. SAC representatives Tallulah Dogwill and Lilly Spurgeon showed each captain a whiteboard naming the person or object they needed to find in the stands—each round, a chair was removed from the circle, similar to musical chairs.
The energy was high right off the bat as the captains hurried to find phone cases, watches and water bottles. Swim and dive captain Devyani Nelson accidentally dropped and spilled the water bottle’s contents in her haste, requiring a big mop to clean it up. Nevertheless, the competition continued. Captains grabbed English teachers, history teachers, sophomores and more until the competition was whittled down to three: volleyball captain Nora McKoy, soccer captain Elizabeth Tuttle and cross country captain Maren Overgaard.
They wrestled for the final two chairs, with Tuttle and Overgaard finding victory. The last round required Tuttle and Overgaard to chase down SAC advisor Rachel Yost-Dubrow. The water from the spill had not completely dried yet, causing both captains to slip and fall onto the gym floor. However, Tuttle was able to extricate herself faster and capture the victory. Overgaard said, “I was glad I finally got to participate, even though Elizabeth mopped the floor with me – literally.”
Pepfest served as a continuation of the dodgeball competition held on Wednesday. Dodgebubus powered through the semifinal vs. Team McLovin. The Dodgebubus and the Bjork Baddies engaged in a nail-biting finale with much back and forth. The Dodgebubus pulled through when they cornered the final team member of the Bjork Baddies, eliciting a massive cheer from the seniors rooting for them.
In a surprise round, Spanish teacher Pam Starkey announced the participation of the Spanish exchange students. However, the Dodgebubus overcame them, too. Then the girls varsity soccer captains hyped up the crowd with the Macarena in anticipation of their game vs. St. Agnes.
Finally, Wall emerged decked out as the Spartan and led the school through “clap your hands, stomp your feet, let’s all do the Spartan beat.” The gym filled up with an ocean of blue and gold as everyone was dismissed, ready and excited for the weekend’s homecoming activities.
Story updated 9/27 to add Podbean recording
