by Journalism student Darrick J. ’20, with photos by Ms. Haas
Oak Hill Academy celebrated the close of the Spirit Days competition on February 26th with the Feats of Strength/OHA Olympics event. The contests included five competitions with multiple participants. The afternoon was action packed with much cheering from the stands. Morgan said, “I thought it was a very fun afternoon. I got to cheer for all of my friends no matter what team they were on!”
The first event was an Obstacle Course. Contestants had to run through cones alternating on which side they passed the cone. Next up was to jump landing two feet inside each of four hula-hoops. Then contests had to complete a puzzle before heading on to the tire drag. Each contestant was required to drag a tire across the gym using a rope, and then push the tire back into the starting position. The final task of the obstacle course involved four hurdles. Each contestant had to alternate jumping over the hurdle and sliding under it. The crowd cheered loudly as times under one minute were clocked for each class. The seniors finished with the lowest time, 38 seconds. The juniors finished in second place with a time of 44 seconds.
A Clothing Relay was the next event. The relay consisted of four parts. For each part, a runner needed to pull on pants, a shirt, and a hat. The participant needed to run across the gym and take off the same three articles of clothing so the next runner could put them on. This repeated four times. The juniors won this competition, followed by the seniors. However, it was the 8th & 9th grades’ two-man team of Asa and Elijah who won the spectators over, running two legs of the relay each for their team. Elijah said, “Asa and I saw that our team needed us. We did the right thing and ran a double. I think we did a good job.”
With basketball running through our veins, the next competition was fierce. Each team chose one girl and one guy to compete in a 30-second Free Throw competition. Evan “Tank” put up seven successful shots helping the seniors to garner first place. The sophomores came in second.
The Battle Ropes competition involves the use of a 2.5-inch thick, almost 100 foot long, woven rope weighing approximately 15 pounds. The rope is looped through the bleachers making it 50 feet in length with two ends for contestants to hold. For 30 seconds, each contestant had to see how many pumps he or she could complete. The sophomores won this challenge with a valiant effort made by Arthurline. The juniors came in second.
As is tradition, the Feats of Strength/OHA Olympics ended with the Tug-of-War. Each class supplied an eight-person team for the contest. Although the 8th & 9th graders came in fourth, their team was comprised of all students. They really gave Coach Meagher, Mr. Massey, and the sophomore class a good battle. Coming out on top was the senior class. Will stated, “My favorite part was when everyone left the stands to cheer the team to pull harder and win the tug-of-war!”
The final standings for the Spirit Days Competition saw a change in the leader. The winners were decided by the second closest margin in the history of the events. The Class of 2020 won the Spirit Days Competition this year. Amazingly, this group, as sophomores in 2018, ended a seven-year reign of the senior classes. They again won the Spirit Days Competition last year as juniors. So they were definitely “the class to beat” this year. Although the other teams made the race tight, they came out on top with a score of 70 points, winning the competition for a third year in a row. The juniors finished in second with 69 points, followed by the sophomores and 8th & 9th grade teams respectively.
The winners of the Spirit Days Competition are rewarded with a huge trophy and a coveted Saturday School off – allowing them to sleep in while everyone else is at school.