It was the first time this event had taken place and there were over 300 Keene State College (KSC) students present. With more than 120 participants taking part in the 12 events, Greeks vs. Athletes occurred on Wednesday, April 5 in the Spaulding Gymnasium.
Tim Smith/ Photo Editor
Shelby Iava/ Sports Editor
The night started off with Kristene Kelly, director of athletics, introducing the event while wearing a red shirt to support to the athletes, but also supporting the Greeks with her sorority letters, Delta Sigma Theta, on it as well.
“We are so proud of the turnout for Greeks vs. Athletes Olympics, especially because it is our first year ever running something like this,” head softball coach and Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) advisor Carrah Hennessey said. SAAC put this event on to bring the athlete and Greek life communities together. Hennessey explained they looked into ideas on what other schools do across the country with their biggest student groups, which typically is the student-athletes and Greek life students.
Junior Jake Tobiasen, who is vice president for programming for the Inter-Fraternity Council, and Maggie McNamara, who is vice president for programming for the Panhellenic Council, were the ones who met up with SAAC on behalf of Greek life to talk about what events would take place, how participants were selected and the point system they would use.
Tim Smith/ Photo Editor
Shelby Iava/ Sports Editor
The first event that took place was a dance off. Junior Kerri Sears of Phi Sigma Sigma owned the dance floor, giving the Greeks the first win of the night. The next event was the chariot race, which incorporated Brandon Mathieu, coordinator of fraternity and sorority life and student leadership, and Kelly, who represented the athletes. Many students were on their feet yelling and supporting their organization. “I loved the chariot race. It was cool to involve the advisors,” said Tobiasen.
The hula hoop contest was another event that had people on their toes. Representing the athletes were students on the swimming & diving team, as well as volleyball, men and women’s soccer, men and women’s lacrosse, basketball, cross country, track and field, field hockey, baseball and softball. Phi Lambda Chi, Delta Phi Epsilon and Delta Xi Phi represented the Greeks. Towards the end, there was only one athlete left and three Greeks left. In the end of this event, the Greeks won.
Tim Smith/ Photo Editor
Shelby Iava/ Sports Editor
First-year Olivia Pechulis, a member of KSC’s swimming and diving team and one of the students who participated in this event, said, “I thought it was fun and exciting participating because it was a bunch of students just having a good time together.”
The shoe flying contest came to a very close tie. There was a kick-off to determine the winner at the end, meaning one person on each side who threw their shoe the farthest went again against the opposing team. Sigma Pi took the lead in this one, adding another point to the Greeks. The Greeks also won in the three-legged race and dizzy bat.
The athletes were behind in points, but made a comeback in the jump rope contest. Students had to be in a group of six and jump rope down the court and then pass it to the next person.
The athletes won the pie-eating contest. It was three groups of five and the best out of two won. Even Mathieu participated in this event, helping the Greeks. Finally, to determine the winner of these Olympics was tug-of-war. Each side had 12 students. In the beginning, the Greeks had it, but in the end, the athletes won by a landslide.
Adriana Sanchez can be contacted at asanchez@kscequinox.com
