“Everyone at Notre Dame has some sort of competitive spirit,” sophomore Ryan Pilat said. Participation at Dorm Day Olympics on Saturday proved just that.
On Nov. 2, once-peers-turned-rivals competed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the coveted titles of “Best Quad” and “Best Dorm.”
The day began with the opening ceremony outside South Dining Hall. The ecstatic smiles of student government members greeted competitors from North, South, East, West and Mod Quads prior to the itinerary of competitions to follow, including swimming, tug-of-war, dodgeball, checkers and more.
The 4x100 freestyle relay began at 9:45 a.m. Welsh Family, Howard, Lyons, Dillon, Breen-Phillips and Stanford participated in the relay. Welsh, Lyons and Dillon each received three points toward their overall scores for winning their races.
Across campus, Midfield Commons in Duncan Family Student Center held a series of checkers games thick with participants’ intense deliberation. A recurring pattern of ties prompted prolonged game-time with the final ending in a draw. Needing a winner, Keough and Breen-Phillips flipped a checkers chip, resulting in a Keough three-point win.
A high stakes “Name that Lyric” game took place next door to the checkers matches. Laughter could be heard from across the room as Welsh Family guessed their way into another three points.
Meanwhile, teams competed in a Midwestern classic game, cornhole, on South Quad. Keough earned another three-point victory to add to their checkers mastery.
By noon, Stanford and Lewis had gained three points each in the Rockne Memorial “3v3” basketball games while Welsh Family pickleball-ers delivered 6 points to their hall for both singles and doubles matches.
To close out the morning festivities, Dillon Hall hopped their way to lunch and to their second three-point victory in the sack race. Competitors and passersby enjoyed free Cute as a Cupcake cupcakes provided by student government for a nutritious “Olympic” style lunch break.
Much-anticipated dodgeball games followed the break.
Howard Hall, embracing the competitive spirit, began the tournament with an eager mindset but a reminder to “stay humble,” which was voiced during their huddle chant.
“I think we [Howard] are killing it,” junior Howard president Olivia Murrin said.
Howard went on to defeat their rivals and take three points in women’s dodgeball. A fire of dodgeballs soared through the air as Dillon kept up their pace in men’s dodgeball and received a likewise point addition upon victory.
Both Howard and Dillon returned with three points each for their show of speed and agility in the three-legged race. Knott made their first three-point appearance next door on South Quad in Spikeball.
Competition returned to Duncan Family Student Center as another intense battle of wits transpired in Hagerty Family Cafe: the spelling bee. Pasquerilla West took first place in the individual competition, receiving their first and only three-point value.
In the second to last competition of the day, Carroll made their first and only point earnings, receiving three points for a first-place win in the 40-yard dash.
Finally, by 3:30 p.m., the events concluded with a battle of strength. Men’s tug of war allowed Stanford to take three points home.
Three women’s teams competed in tug of war with Howard coming in first for three points, Lyons coming in second for two points and Welsh Family coming in third. Howard celebrated their win with line dancing to Boney M.'s “Rasputin.” They proceeded to dance for another twenty minutes in assumed victory while judges calculated the results.
Although applauded for their high energy throughout the day by sophomore student life co-director Mason McCart, Howard was disappointed by the final standings. Dillon claimed first with 18 points, Welsh Family came in second with 17 points and Stanford received third with 15 points. Howard came in fifth with 12 points behind Knott.
Following an exchange of words about the validity of the standings, McCart explained the nature of the scoring. The top teams had participated in the most events and received the highest scores for them. Howard scored in only five events while Dillon earned higher point values in seven.
In light of the difference in Howard’s expectations, the hall took the loss in stride and returned home having only one victory on their shoulders: South Quad’s “Best Quad” title.
Because of the newness of the Dorm Day Olympics and low campus-wide knowledge, there were no-shows, uneven teams and underwhelming support from North Quad, yet members of student government and participants maintained uplifted, competitive spirits.
As the participants left, the student government crew assisting with the event reflected on their seven-hour Dorm Day.
Student body president and campus life chairperson Dawson Kiser alluded to his excitement that Dorm Day Olympics is a time for “all different dorms to come together and collaborate … and foster that North versus South rivalry.”
The crew later iterated the importance of the essence of “camaraderie” within the Dorm Day Olympics in addition to competitiveness.
“We thought it would be a great idea to have everyone in one shared space, [in] one great event to collaborate and have a great time together,” McCart said.
“That’s where you see a lot of the teamwork actually occur, you know, just coming together to beat common rival dorms,” Kiser added.
Keeping this uplifted tone, McCart relayed hopes for the start of an annual continuity of the Dorm Day Olympics.
“We’re hoping to make it an enduring tradition,” he said.
