A Sunny Sports Day, 2024!
By Ava Edghill ‘25, Contributor; Edited by Teresa Gentes ‘25, Staff Editor
On Friday, May 24th, Ridley Upper School gathered on the back fields for a day of activities and sunshine as they raced to win their respective inter-house competitions. The day started with a communal BBQ at the front circle where students gathered together to eat, chat, and gear up for the big day ahead.
Tick, tick, tick… it’s the sound of the chimes challenge! Sports Day began with Ridley's traditional “Chimes Challenge,” which consisted of a group of students racing around the front circle to beat the sound of the chimes. This was a perfect way to get everyone excited and filled with anticipation for the following events. Congratulations to Maria Shea ‘24 and Tyler Rowland ‘24 for winning their respective races. Once this challenge concluded, everyone migrated to the back fields of campus to continue the exciting events!
As students had a house cheer off to get the energy up, the main events started with the house junior and senior relays which required a few members of each house to do a short run, ten burpees, a long run, a three-legged race, wheelbarrow race, bean bag toss, and erging to finish it off. It was a thrilling and intense way to start the races. Some more field activities throughout the day were soccer dribbling, golf chipping, vertical and long jump, table tennis, cornhole, and even a blindfolded scooter race! Students thoroughly enjoyed these activities, and even those who were not participating loved watching them and cheering for their peers.
Some of the more exciting events throughout the day, however, were the races. There were 100-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter, and relay races throughout the day. Students from houses such as Leonard, Merritt North, and ABEast thrived in these races as they crossed the finish line in a flash! Smiles were drawn, congratulations were given, and laughs were made due to a few falls and stumbles during the races…
Once the races had concluded, it was time for the beginning of the most anticipated event of the day — the inter-house Tug of War. This is another famous Ridley tradition and is one which does not happen without excitement. The girls' and guys' houses rounded up their strongest members to team up and pull that rope with all their power. It was a tough competition, but shout out to the ABEast Beasts and the Mandeville Ducks for winning their wars!
Overall, the day was a huge success and was one to remember. As the events ended, everyone gathered in the gymnasium to celebrate their third-term sports accomplishments with Trinity Sports Awards. It was a wonderful way to end a sunny day full of laughter, cheers, and most importantly, celebration.
