In Thursday’s Eliminator, the students flipped the script in terms of rankings and finished in reverse order of seniority: freshmen in first, sophomores in second, juniors in third, and seniors in last.
The Eliminator is a relay race consisting of egg-on-a-spoon, wheelbarrow, crabwalk, sprint, and tricycle. This Spirit Week favorite is a final attempt to earn points before Friday’s main events, Hallway and Airband.
Per the typical Eliminator structure, the event was split into four head-to-head matchups in the Blue Gym. First, the seniors faced the freshmen and the juniors faced the sophomores. The winners faced off in a game for first place, while the loser faced off in a game for third.
In the day’s first game, the seniors took an early lead. The seniors had a strong veteran team, with five out of their six contestants having been a part of their 2023 Eliminator win.
In an epic comeback, Joey Kirchhoff ’28 regained the lead in the tricycle part of the race, working from a five-to-ten-second deficit.
After the race, Kirchhoff commented, “It’s just light work … It was really easy. I fit pretty well on [the trike].”
Kirchhoff and his classmates solidified the class of 2028’s win in the final matchup, where they would have the chance to compete for first and second place.
Preston Galanis ’25, who has been sprinting for the class of 2025 since their freshman year, said, “I just think it’s unfortunate … We’ve never really been good with a tricycle. I think we tried our best, but there’s no stopping [Kirchhoff].”
Next, the juniors faced the sophomores to race for the second spot in the first-place/second-place race. After a resounding sophomore victory, however, Dean of Students Will Miller stopped the games to clarify a key factor in the egg-on-a-spoon section of the race: the student’s hand must be away from the spoon and cannot be used to help keep the egg on the spoon. Miller threatened disqualification but allowed the grades to race again.
The sophomores beat the juniors by a substantial margin, carrying on the underclassmen win streak of the competition. After two upsets, the final matches were set, with the freshman and sophomores competing for first and second place, and the juniors and seniors competing for third and fourth place.
First to race were the juniors and seniors. The juniors gained a quick lead during the egg-on-a-spoon portion, finishing a solid five seconds before the seniors. While the seniors tried to regain the lost ground during the tricycle section, the juniors held onto the lead throughout the rest of the race, winning by mere seconds. The juniors placed third in the overall competition, and the seniors placed fourth.
Finally, the freshmen and sophomores faced off for first and second place. The race was close throughout, but the freshmen pulled away on the tricycle, securing 100 points for their team in a first-place win. The class of 2028, along with many students of other grades, rushed the makeshift court to celebrate Kirchhoff’s impressive performance.
Following Eliminator, the scoreboard is as follows: the seniors are still in first place, with 400 points, followed by the juniors in second place, with 318.75 points. The freshmen are in third place, with 268.75 points, followed closely by the fourth-place sophomores, with 262.5 points.
Olivia Arzu ’26, who rode the tricycle for her class, said, “I’m upset. I really wanted first place, but we’re six points away from third place. … We [still have] Hallway and Airband tomorrow. We’re ending the sophomore slump.”
David Will ’28, who cheered on the class of 2028 during Eliminator, commented on the momentum that his grade has heading into the final day of Spirit Week.
“We just [need to] keep being humble with it. We need to lock in and stay focused,” said Will.
Regarding his role in bringing the class of 2028 out of last place, Kirchhoff said, “My back kind of hurts a little bit, from carrying my grade. It’s just too easy.”
With a maximum of 1350 points still available to be won, the final day of Spirit Week 2024 is sure to bring lots of excitement.
