Shirts of varying colors filled the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports basketball stands Thursday evening. Excited chatter rumbled the building as representatives from each Residential Commons sprinkled in, finding their fellow teammates amidst the rainbow of Commons T-shirts and the pile of around 400 plastic balls in the middle of the court.
These representatives came to attend the opening ceremony of the second annual Residential Commons Olympics, a central event for Commons to earn points for the Commons Cups, which kicked off at 7 p.m.
Cockrell-McIntosh Commons collected the most points throughout the night and brought home a first place win. Boaz Commons followed in second and Crum Commons in third; however, several Commons followed close behind these top three.
The night consisted of different activities for each Commons to compete against each other in. While returning students recognized some games from last year, such as Connect Four, Dodgeball, Battleship and Knockerball (Bubble Soccer), new games were introduced such as Jeopardy and Hungry Hungry Hippos.
Each Residential Commons supplied 24 residents to compete in the different spots for these competitions. Other residents came to support their peers as well, cheering and chanting throughout the activities.
Hungry Hungry Hippos kicked off the night, providing much entertainment as participants watched their peers roll on mini carts and collect plastic balls.
Following this game, each Commons then dispersed to their different activities throughout the night. Knockerball and Jeopardy competed first after Hungry Hungry Hippos.
“I was enthused to see people wanted to play Jeopardy, but I was terrified since I made the questions myself by memory, and I was worried nobody would know them,” said A.J. Jeffries, vice president of Commons Initiatives and coordinator of the RC Olympics.
While Jeopardy challenged the minds of students, Knockerball attested to their physical endurance and pain tolerance.
Knockerball collected quite the crowd as many people surrounded the indoor multipurpose court. A game with few rules, participants knocked each other left and right as they raced to chase after the soccer ball and score.
The Olympics ended with a highly attended game of Battleships. After Dodgeball and Knockerball ended, all participants went to the indoor Dedman pool to cheer on their Commons as they tried to sink the other Commons’ canoes.
The pool rang with chants and cheers from each of the Commons, and few escaped dry as even bystanders were not safe from the splashing of participants. After Battleships, the standings were announced and a plaque was awarded to the overall winner, Cockrell-McIntosh.
With so many groups involved, this event has been in the works for months. Jeffries spearheaded the restructuring of the RC Olympics last May after he received feedback from last year’s event.
“My biggest concern was making sure that enough people were there,” Jeffries said.
To assist the Commons in filling rosters for events, Jeffries pushed back the RC Olympics from its September date to the beginning of October. Despite these adjustments, Jeffries still faced some obstacles due to university changes in funding.
