As the rest of Saint Mary’s College recovered from Halloweekend and mourned the end of daylight saving time, Belle athletes channeled their inner gym class champion for Belles Fall Fest. At 4 p.m. on Nov. 3, 150 athletes from Saint Mary’s gathered in the Angela Athletic Center to compete in 10 games testing their mental and physical toughness, teamwork, communication skills and doughnut-eating prowess.
The first round, perhaps the most rewarding as a participant, was the doughnut on a string competition. In pairs representing each sport, one girl ate a doughnut attached to a string that the other held in the air. Every team passed the challenge with flying colors (and powdered sugar) except for lacrosse, which did not finish in time.
The second round was the clothing relay race. Athletes who excelled at getting dressed in the morning two minutes before the start of class had the practical advantage. In groups of four, girls had to pull on sweatpants, a shirt and a sweatshirt over their clothes, run to the other side of the gym and back and exchange clothes with the next teammate. Used to flying around bases, softball took an early lead. Soccer nearly caught them on the last leg, and the race ended in a photo finish. Softball earned three points for first place, soccer two for second and stunt and volleyball one each for tying for third.
Belles tennis' time to shine came in the third round with pantyhose bowling. Athletes put tights on their head with a tennis ball at the end and attempted to knock over a row of half-filled water bottles. Ever in tune with the tennis ball, tennis knocked over their stack first, and all the teams were rewarded with points except for basketball, which did not finish within the time limit.
For the fourth round, softball took first in the three-legged race, soccer second and tennis third. Cross country’s running dreams were briefly shattered by an off-course collision with softball, costing them the victory. Soccer, armed with a cheer paddle, cowboy hat and a dream, began their winning streak starting in the fifth round. Dizzy basketball made athletes spin around a bat, run to the end of the court to a basketball and make a shot. Soccer came in first, basketball second and lacrosse third. In the sixth round, soccer claimed first place in the human hula hoop ring toss, cross country second and basketball third. Soccer went on to three-peat as they won a divisive round of musical chairs in the seventh round, with basketball in second and lacrosse third.
The eighth round, the blindfold obstacle course, stumped soccer and a number of other teams. In teams of two, one girl was blindfolded, while the other gave her verbal directions. Neither was allowed to touch the obstacles, a chair, yoga mat and pool noodle or they would have to restart. Basketball and stunt breezed past the competition, while soccer, tennis and cross country did not make it to the hula hoop finish line and earned no points.
By the final round, chicken on the roof, teams were at a fever pitch. Soccer dominated but softball was within striking range. Contrary to the name, the “smickens,” chickens from the Saint Mary's sustainable farm, did not make an appearance for chicken on the roof. Instead, athletes in pairs had to run to their partner after spinning in a circle and match the action of the directions given. For “chicken on the roof," one girl had to kneel on the other’s back. For “lover’s leap," one had to carry the other. Lacrosse got their first win of the night, cross country claimed second and soccer third. Soccer had the most points, but their celebrations were cut short with the announcement of a surprise championship round.
The championship round was a blindfolded dodgeball game between the teams with the highest number of points, soccer and softball. While soccer valiantly fought to preserve their victory, they were ultimately no match for softball’s throwing skills, honed from their sport. Even blindfolded, softball won in an upset. There were nine teams and 150 talented athletes, but only one Fall Fest Champion.
