The Tennis Tournament took place on Saturday afternoon with a massive turnout of 24 doubles teams. All the teams were placed in one of six groups. Two teams advance from each group. A few wildcards would also get through depending on how many games they won.
The group stage featured varying levels of tennis ability, but certainly a lot of fun. After the matches, the round of 16 was set and the knockout stages began. Isaac Portwood and Elijah Hall against Jack Little and Ben Reynolds was the most intriguing round of 16 matchups and it was so long that it delayed the tournament by about thirty minutes. The duos were evenly matched. In the end, Little and Reynolds advanced due to Jess cutting the game off at 7-6. Matt and Noel, Spencer and Luke Barrow, Luke Dawson and John, Robert and Will, Olivia and Noah, Ly and Lizzie, and Annie and Tyler advanced as well. The round of eight saw the end of the fairytale runs for Robert and Will and Jack and Ben at the hands of Ly and Lizzie and Olivia and Noah, respectively. Luke Barrow and Spencer advanced alongside Matt and Noel. The Final Four saw Matt and Noel beat Lizzie and Ly 6-2. Noah and Olivia put up a fight against Spencer and Luke Barrow, but Spencer and Luke put it together late and won 6-4. The final was no surprise to anyone who had attended the tennis club, but none of the spectators had any idea who would get the victory. Both duos were extremely talented and it would prove to be as tight as anticipated. The match went to a tiebreaker at 6-6. A tiebreaker is a first-to-7 game, but the winner must win by two. Spencer and Luke took an early lead, but Matt and Noel brought it to 6-6. The tiebreaker was now in a tiebreaker. Spencer took the next point with a smash at the net. On the following point, a wayward shot ended the match with a victory for Spencer and Luke Barrow. The tournament was fun for all involved and featured quality tennis for spectators. Thank you to Biven Turner and Addison for setting up the tournament and giving scholars some fun during the last weekend. by Jack Little & Robert Butler
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At 3 PM on Saturday, there was next-to-no chance of the soccer club happening, so when it became the best experience I have had yet, I was nothing short of shocked.
The rain poured from noon to 3:30, but once 4 PM rolled around, RA Ryan Biddle announced that the soccer club had been given a lifeline. Around twenty scholars, including myself, flocked to the South Turf for some half-field 5-on-5 with scholars divided into three teams. We played five-minute games. The winner stayed on the field while the other team swapped out with the one that had lost the previous game. After about two games, the rain resumed. At first, it was just a sprinkle, but it soon turned into a torrential downpour. The more rain that fell, the more fun the games became. The level of play may have been low, but every scholar still walked off the field with smiles plastered across their faces. For me, it was the best hour of GSP yet. I was playing a game I love in the soaking rain with some fantastic people. It doesn’t get much better than that! The soccer club meets again this Sunday on the South Turf during open field time. by Jack Little “What are the GSP Olympics?” That was a question many scholars, including myself, asked this week.
What games would there be, and would we be winning any awards? Nobody knew. I was skeptical. I have to hand it to the RA’s, keeping everyone guessing despite the nagging from all the scholars. However, I still had high hopes for when the day finally came. My optimism led me to believe we would be participating in all of my favorite sports and games, and we would be competing against the other seminar groups to see who would come out on top. I was wrong. After the long walk to the South Turf Field, I did not see a single bat, ball, or bean bag. Not only that, but I found out it was a friendly event and there would be no winners or losers--what a shame. Is it even an Olympics at that point? After getting thrashed in the riff-off, egg and spoon relay race, and spelling bee, I was ready to leave. Our team was losing, but we were not “losing,” and I did not know how to feel about anything. However, I was not disappointed with the result. I was surprised by the creativity of the games we played despite the lack of real sports. The trivia contest, reaction time game, and the balloon toss were just a few of the many bright spots. There were also, quite literally, no bright spots after the lights went out for the better part of an hour. Nonetheless, playing games and messing around in the dark was still amusing. Surprisingly enough, the highlight was when the seminar groups began playing duck-duck-goose. Although everyone was sliding across the field and skinning their knees, that 30 to 45 minutes produced a lot of laughs and memorable moments. When the lights came back on, our group finished off the night playing over-under and wrapping one of our classmates in toilet paper. Although the “Beach Baller” did not end up winning - our backstory was fantastic, and our costume was even better - it was a great way to end the Olympics before we headed home for the night. Overall the GSP Olympics was a great event to end week one of GSP. I believe the Amazing Race and other upcoming events will be even more popular among the student body. by Robert Butler My GSP Olympics experience can be described in a few words: fun, surprising, and very competitive (even though it wasn’t actually a competition). The RAs did a wonderful job at planning activities that would bring the different seminar groups closer together. The riff-off was my favorite activity, and let me tell you, Pitch Perfect had nothing on us. Sure, there were no real winners or losers (although I will say blue team on top!), but at the end of the night, it didn’t even matter. Surprisingly enough, the best part of the GSP Olympics was a total accident. While waiting for the lights to come back on, we decided to make the most of it by singing, dancing, and just being with each other. This was one of the best events that I’ve participated in this far, and it just made me even more excited to spend time with the new friends I’ve made here and to see what else GSP has in store. by Aliza Sanchez I loved the GSP Olympics. Like almost everyone else, I arrived having very little idea of what to expect, but once it got started, it was an awesome time. The games may not have been traditional athletic events, but they stressed teamwork and helped the Centre GSP community to come together. A strange highlight for me was when the lights went out. Although you’d expect a blackout to stop the games and hurt the overall experience, it actually made it much more memorable. Rather than just sit there in silence and wait for the lights to be fixed, we came together and began to play our own games. I probably hadn’t played Duck, Duck, Goose in a solid eight years or so, but apparently, it becomes way more fun when you’re shrouded in darkness. Who knew? There were other highlights for me, like Trivia (which I did well in) and the Riff-Off (where I was useless), but I think that when I think back to the GSP Olympics years from now, I’ll remember that moment when the lights went out. GSP has been great so far, and as far as I’m concerned, the Olympics exemplify this perfectly. by Liam Ryan The GSP Olympics have been my favorite fun-datory event so far! I thought the creativity shown by the RAs was spectacular. I loved so many of the games. My personal favorite games were the Pitch Perfect Riff-Off, the egg and spoon race, and the superhero creation station. The superhero creation station in my particular group was so fun because we got to cover this girl in toilet paper and make up an imaginary hero with imaginary powers. Some of the people in my seminar/general studies were so creative. They created this intriguing hero with a nemesis, backstory, and an in-depth origin. The egg and spoon race had my whole group rolling on the floor laughing because of the number of times we dropped the egg. I would say twenty drops minimum. In this particular game, our group lost by about 30 or 40 seconds. Last but certainly not least was the Riff-Off. This was by-far my favorite as I love those scenes in Pitch Perfect. My group may or may not have been significantly better than me at the game, but I still enjoyed the few songs I was able to pitch in. All in all, I loved the Olympics. I am looking forward to more and more fun-datory events! by Jack Little |