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This year, Viking Council hosted a new homecoming event known as The Viking Olympics. The Viking Olympics is a series of games that 64 students have the opportunity to compete in. The students were divided into four groups composed of 16 participants from each class. The format was fashioned after the NCAA basketball tournament, and a new round of competition took place each day of the week. Vice President of Student Life Kendall Antle helped build the Viking Olympics.    

“The current executive board generated the idea this summer while we were thinking of ways to boost on-campus interaction,” Antle said. “We also thought optimum student turnout would transpire if the event were held in conjunction with homecoming week.” 

With this being the first year, the Viking Council had to come up with new events and activities that  would vary each day to keep the competitors engaged.

“At first there wasn’t a name for it, we just wanted to do something that involved a lot of students,” said Iyyad Rayyan, chief financial officer of Viking Council. “We also wanted to make it semi-athletic because our school is so athletic.”

Each round of competition was designed to have students competing one-on-one until there was only one left in each class. Then the class champions square off; Freshmen vs. seniors and juniors vs. sophomores. The winner of each side goes head-to-head in the final round where two compete to be the first Viking Olympian.

The victor receives a copy of the bracket declaring them the winner, a gold medal and his or her name engraved on the official trophy. But the best prize is $200 in cash.

Viking Council hosted a street painting event that allowed students to showcase their school spirit by painting a sidewalk square between the residence halls. This is where the Viking Olympics debuted.  The contestants battled hard in two rounds of inflatable obstacle courses, one that measured 64 feet in length. The day started with 64 competitors and ended with the Sweet 16.

Jaidin Ross (Jr.) participated in street painting and said she was eager to compete in the games.

“I’m very excited, and I’m also nervous because I want to do really well, but I believe that it’s going to be fun,” she said.

Ross made it past the first round, but victory slipped away as she fell to Abriana Valentine (Jr.) in the second round. Even through the loss, Ross said she was pleased with the experience.

“It was a lot of fun, and I’m definitely going to do it again next year,” she said.