Homecoming week takes over Thompson Falls

THOMPSON FALLS – The festivities surrounding the 2013 Thompson Falls High School Homecoming kicked off on Thursday as the community gathered at the football field to watch students square off during the annual Olympic games.

High school students separated by class competed to the amusement of the crowd in a variety of events including relay races, water balloon volleyball and a seven-legged race among others. The celebration was followed by the homecoming parade and the football game on Friday.

The Bluehawk Olympic events began with the tennis ball run. Four students, two girls and two boys from each class participated in the relay race that saw contestants balance a tennis ball on a spoon as they made their way around the track. Runners had to carry the ball on the spoon without touching it with their hands and to recover the ball when it fell to the ground.

Next was a crowd favorite, the water balloon volleyball match. Each class was represented by four team members who took turns launching a water balloon over the net to the opposing team using a beach towel. Use of hands was prohibited except to retrieve a fallen balloon.

The matches saw many back and forth rallies punctuated by moments of water splattering across the feet and legs of participants. After an epic set to determine a winner, the sophomores came out on top.

The seniors easily won the seven-legged race against opponents who had trouble staying on their feet. The six elder classmen had no trouble establishing a rhythm despite the tape attaching their legs to each other as other teams fell to the ground.

The next event was the hula-hoop race where teams stood in a circle with arms locked and had to move their bodies through a hula-hoop. Again the seniors proved too much for the other classes as they nimbly maneuvered the hula-hoop around themselves before passing it off to the adjacent team member.

Following the hula-hoop event was a four-part relay race. The first segment was a three-legged race followed by a wheelbarrow race that was in turn followed by a sack race. The final component involved competitors placing their foreheads on a baseball bat and spinning around for ten revolutions.

The competitors then had to fight off the dizzying disorientation and hit an archery target with a water balloon. The sophomore class won again in the arduous event.

Another crowd pleaser, the pie eating contest was next on the agenda. One student from each class sat at a table with their hands tied behind their backs and had to plunge their faces into the pie. The sophomore class once again earned first place as the fastest pie eaters.

Musical chairs, a toilet paper unraveling race and the tug-of-war rounded out the events of the Olympic games in Thompson Falls. The juniors won musical chairs while the award for the strongest class went to the sophomore girls and the senior boys for their victories in the tug-of-war.

The last event and the bragging rights for the class with the strongest vocal chords and subsequently the most school spirit went to the seniors for the class yell event. Students warmed up with a few practice attempts before letting loose with as much screaming and yelling as they could muster.

Student Council Advisor and Homecoming Olympic games coordinator Raoul Ribeiro said the event was a way for the community to come out and show their support for the high school and the sports teams.

“It’s a tradition. They’ve been doing this for over 25 years,” said Ribeiro. “It brings the community together to show school spirit and to have a good time. The classes are very competitive. You’ll see it out there tonight.”

The final score after the Olympic events was tied at 850 points apiece for the senior and sophomore classes. After events on Friday such as the float judging, skit performances and more indoor games, the seniors took the ultimate title scoring 2075 points overall. The sophomore class was a close second with 1900 points.