The Juniors (Class of 2027) won Trojan Olympics in the gym on Friday, March 27. The juniors finished with a total of 875 points, the seniors with 860 points, the sophomores with 760 points, and the freshmen with 605 points, according to an official score breakdown provided by Activities Director Deana Querubin.
Class of 2027 President Kavish Shah knew his team was slightly nervous heading into the event, but he believed that his team had a very good shot and could see the momentum building up as Trojan Olympics approached, he said. The tension was especially strong given the tight point margins, he added.
“It was very close,” Shah said. “I was calculating the score the entire time. I knew that it was always going to come down to events such as the pyramid.”
Although the pyramid performance appeared polished to the audience, some of it had to be improvised on the spot due to some last-minute confusion, Shah said. Despite the chaotic setback, the pyramid still came together perfectly in the end, he added.
“It was actually really just on the spot,” Shah said. “Everyone just thought of their place, and we really improvised it right there. It was good.”
Spirit Week also helped to propel the juniors to victory, Shah said. Excelling in the Spirit Week category alone gave the Juniors a 10-point lead in points for Trojan Olympics.
“We were down by 30 people in Spirit Week, so we started coming up with ideas,” Shah said. “What we did is everyone in our class printed out these tiny packets of pictures of Wreck-It-Ralph to pass around our class, and each person got 10 people to check in. That’s 40 times 10, which is 400 people.”
Junior Jelani North participated in Trojan Olympics for multiple games such as egg flinging, tug of war, and skateboard derby, North said. He believed that the team won because of a strong drive and determination that had been building up since the previous year, he added.
“Last school year, we ended up getting second and beating out (last year’s) juniors at Trojan Olympics,” North said. “So once we saw that, we were like, ‘There’s definitely a possibility we can come back next year and compete for that first place.’ I think it was just a matter of how determined our class was.”
Following their victory this year, his class plans on an even larger win for next school year’s Trojan Olympics, Shah said.
“We want to get a blow-out win,” Shah said. “This means coming first place in every single category and trying to get the maximum possible points.”
Trojan Olympics was really successful this year, ASB President Natasha Lacuzong said. She was surprised by the enthusiasm and turnout, she said. She could sense that the juniors had an upper hand heading into Trojan Olympics given their participation, but was also surprised by how much support the freshmen had, given this is the most tickets that have ever been sold to the freshman class, she added.
“I would like to say ‘thank you’ to all those that came to T.O. and cheered and just supported your classmates,” Lacuzong said. “I think what we do is really uncommon throughout any high schools in this area. There’s not many class-versus-class championships.”
The sophomores entered the competition with confidence and high expectations, Class of 2028 President Zaed Shahid said. The team still showed a strong performance throughout, particularly in the games category which they won, he added.
“I told myself and my team that we were going to win this T.O.,” Shahid said. “We didn’t win, but I think we did well enough and that we definitely showed that we had that winning mentality, that we have the ability. We did our best, and I was definitely proud of my team.”
Despite falling short of first place, the experience was still a major motivation for his class to continue to strive and aim for victory in the future, especially at next year’s Trojan Olympics, Shahid said.
“I want to get the word out that we’re here and that we actually have a chance to win,” Shahid said.
“I think that’s definitely going to motivate people that the juniors won this year. It is definitely possible, and I guess it’s time for the juniors to win next school year as well.”
