Olympia reigns supreme in Rival Rally

Sitting in front of Dr. Phillips SGA member Devin Hill and the other participants was the final challenge of the relay.

The obstacle ahead? A jar of baby food.

All Hill had to do was scarf the baby food down and he’d hand Dr. Phillips two points and a much-needed win during the Rival Rally held at Olympia High School Wednesday, Oct. 23. 

“It was disgusting, and it was challenging because we couldn’t use our hands — I was like, throwing the applesauce bottle back,” Hill said. “You know we always take our wins and losses, and you know Dr. Phillips will always be Olympia’s father.”

While the Panthers did hand Olympia a loss in the event, the Titans got the last laugh as they got the better of both Dr. Phillips and Windermere High in the overall point standings — winning nine points to Dr. Phillips’ seven points and Windermere’s three points.

This year’s Rival Rally is actually the second and was the brainchild of Brittney D’Antuono — a Dr. Phillips student who graduated earlier this year.

“Dr. Phillips had the idea during the Olympia/Dr. Phillips rivalry week to host a kind of friendly competition of relay games just to sort of create a little more friendly rivalry between the two,” said Michael Pearl, Olympia’s SGA director.

During that event, SGA students from multiple schools took part in a variety of games — like capture the flag — and it ultimately ended with Dr. Phillips taking first place — something that didn’t sit well with Olympia senior Amanda Johnston.

Johnston was a leader in bringing the Rival Rally to Olympia for this year and played the role of lead referee for the night’s events. 

“Last year I was one of the mascots, so I didn’t get to play any games, so I was super excited to finally play some games and improve it a little bit from last year,” Johnston said. “I essentially helped plan out all of these games. We had many different ideas, so we were taking everyone’s input and putting it into a superior Rival Rally.”

From there, Johnston and the others concocted a series of five games, plus a bonus round. The bonus round kicked off the night’s events, as each team had to create a TikTok video — whoever got the most likes by the end of the night would win that bonus round.

What followed was a series of hilarious games, with the first being a field goal contest that Olympia dominated thanks in part to having senior Colby Kintner — the kicker for the Titans’ varsity football team — on deck. Kintner would be the only student to make a field goal, despite a few valiant efforts from others.

Dr. Phillips would strike next with its win in the goofy relay that ended with Hill scarfing down baby food before racing down the field with schoolmates who were connected together by a hula hoop.

“Dr. Phillips had the idea during the Olympia/Dr. Phillips rivalry week to host a kind of friendly competition of relay games just to sort of create a little more friendly rivalry between the two."

— Michael Pearl, Olympia’s SGA director.

The back-and-forth continued between Dr. Phillips and Olympia when the Titans took first place in a traditional relay around the football field. The win was a big one, but it would have nothing on the night’s most exciting event — the tug ofwar.

“I got to say the tug of war was my favorite event, because we beat our rival — so it has to be the top,” said Logan Baker, a senior at Olympia. “I see that panther logo on their shirt and just I’m like, ‘Listen, I can’t let my school down, so I’m going to do my hardest.’”

Baker and the other Titans wouldn’t let their team down, as they knocked Dr. Phillips down a peg to get yet another win. While Dr. Phillips and Olympia owned the night, Windermere — which had three representatives — would take home a win in the mascot race after narrowly defeating Dr. Phillips.

Before the final scores could be tallied up, the results of the TikTok challenge from earlier in the night were read aloud, with Olympia picking up 44 likes, while Dr. Phillips and Windermere followed suit with 37 and 16 likes, respectively.

Getting the overall win over their rivals was big for Johnston, though it was just a small part of her involvement with the program. It was also about bringing the SGAs together to enjoy some friendly competition.

“It’s the best to be able to have spirit, to have love for my school, for my team and for my co-workers — I call them co-workers even though they are my best friends on the student council,” Johnston said. “It’s just so much love and support.”