Dash! Splash! Slide! These are some of the words used to describe one of the most exciting events of the year – Field Day. This year’s Field Day, which annually pits the Orange Team against the Blue Team, was somewhat of an experiment for the Middle School as, for the first time ever, all students participated in every single event.

“I changed [Field Day] to get everyone in every event so they would not be sitting around most of the day,” said Middle School Athletic Director Mr. Toby Harbeck, who coordinates Field Day each year. “We will continue to use this format because it really seemed like everyone liked it. I have not heard any negative comments from this year,” he said.

This year, the Orange Team took home the trophy the win with a 50 point victory against  over the Blue Team. This year, as in years past, the winner was decided by the final event: tug o’ war. Before the last event, the Orange Team was only 25 points ahead of the Blue Team, so the tug o’ war decided who won the day-long competition. Initially, the Blue Team’s sixth graders beat the Orange Team’s sixth graders. However, things then took a turn for the worst for the Blue Team, as it lost the seventh and eighth- grade tug o’ wars, handing the win to the Orange Team. Since there is one tug o’ war per grade, and each tug o’ war win can earn a team fifty points, each team has a chance of getting a maximum of 150 points from the tug o’ war event.

Win or lose, though, everyone had a great time. “Field Day was really fun and cool because I got to take a leadership position and [have] a great experience,” said eighth grader Casey Crawford, who was co-captain of the Blue Team. He was joined by classmate Emeline Smith, who helped him out with the captain duties. The captains for the Orange Team were eighth graders Matthew Roundtree and Lily Valentini. The eighth-grade faculty nominates captains based on students’ who possess school spirit, good sportsmanship, and a positive attitude.

One of the reason students had so much fun was due to the new format and new events, such as the real-life Hungry Hungry Hippos. For this event, dozens of various balls were gathered together in the center of the gym, and the team that collected the most balls in the allotted time using a scooter and a laundry basket won the event. There were three positions for each team: one person laid on the flat pallet  scooter with the laundry basket to collect the balls. The second person grabbed the first person’s ankles and moved them across the floor. The third person sat in a chair in a corner of the gym and took the balls collected by the other two people.

Another new event was the water bucket relay where students had to line up and pass a bucket filled with water over their heads. When the filled bucket went to the end of the line, the last person was required to take the bucket to the front of the line and dump the bucket in a garbage can. The first team that filled the garbage can with water won the event.

Of course, there were the traditional competitions as well, such as kickball, basketball, and everyone’s favorite, the obstacle course relay where students have to ride a tricycle, hula hoop, walk a plank, and race down a wet tarp before passing the baton to a teammate.

“I liked the obstacle course because you get to get wet and slide – it was awesome,” said sixth grader JJ Kutner.

After all the mayhem on the field, the Blue and Orange Teams had a chance to get to together and have some more fun. Faculty members, including Spanish teacher Mr. Maddox, cooked burgers and hotdogs for the entire Middle School on a  grill donated by Cheney Brothers Inc.

Even before the Field Day competition began, the day started off right with a Benjamin Breakfast Club (BBC) – the quarterly talent show held in the quad. There were many acts this year, such as Mr. Ginnetty’s Songwriting Club with “Renegade” by the X Ambassadors, and sixth graders Xan Blount, Hannah Beam, and Emerson Ferry lip-syncing to Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi.” There was even some stand-up comedy thanks to seventh grader Sarah Darby.

Overall, the Middle School student body greatly favored this year’s version of Field Day over the others since no one sat in the bleachers, there were many new exciting events, and it was the perfect start to Spring Break.  

“Field Day was awesome!” said eighth grader Jacob Steinger, a member of the Blue Team and co-emcee of the day’s BBC. “I had a lot of fun. I felt like I was more involved in all the activities since last year the whole time I was just sitting down on the bench. This year I got to play Hungry Hungry Hippos, kickball, and all sorts of other fun activities,” he said.