44th annual Frosh Olympics unites freshmen in four houses

Members of Cana House celebrate a back to back Frosh Olympics win.

Vince Francisco ’19, Copy Editor

Friday, Sept. 14 was a night of glory, triumph, and fraternity. Freshmen from the houses of Bolts, Cana, Russi, and Pilar competed in the Frosh Olympics, a renowned annual Riordan tradition where they compete for the Frosh Olympics Trophy and 100 points forthe house in first place.

With the addition of the house system as of last year, the competitive spirit between the four houses is higher than ever.

Valerie O’Riordan, provincial of Russi House and Drama teacher, said, “[Russi isn’t] out for blood, and we aren’t always infirst place. But watch out for the Green Machine, we’ll surprise you when you least expect it.”

The Frosh Olympics kicked off with the buzzer commencing the half court basketball competition. In this event, Bolts faced off against Russi, losing in the process. On the other side of Restani Court, Cana was celebrating its victory against Pilar.

Second, was the full court dodgeball game. Cana and Bolts came out on top in their matches, while Pilar and Russi lost theirs. As the dodgeball players were competing, there were freshmen under the bleachers who played against each other in checkers. In this round, Pilar and Cana beat Russi and Bolts.

Mid-Olympics, the freshmen were greeted with the rally game. To win, the house that is in the outer circle had to knock down all of the opposing contenders in the inner circle with gigantic yoga balls. If the contenders in the inner circle are all standing before timeends, the outer circle fighters losethe game. In this match, Cana and Pilar lost to Bolts and Russi.

For the relay event, participants dressed up the Crusader mascot in their respective house shirt to win. Before that, however, they had to complete several tasks like making three shots from the 3-point line, dashing to the end of the court from the other, and running an agility ladder through hula hoops. Pilar and Russi beat Cana and Bolts to the punch on this one.

In the second to last event, Riordan’s freshmen participated in a flag football competition. The game between Bolts and Russi lasted for a short while with Bolts coming out on top, but the match between Pilar and Cana was the complete opposite. The House of Cana was determined to win this game because they needed only one more win to take win Frosh Olympics, however House of Pilarwas set on leveling the playing field to get the first big win of the year.

This match went back and forth, back and forth with both teams at 1-1. The match carried over into overtime. In a surprising turn of events, Cana succeeded in beating Pilar with a catch in the endzone. Christopher Fern, provincial of Cana house, said, “[Football] was really high stakes and of course Cana winning it and cementing us as back to back Frosh OlympicsChamps definitely made it something I’ll always remember and be proud of.”

Per tradition, all of the freshmen participated in a Tug of War contest, which did not count towards points because “the provincials wanted to make it a fun event like how we did it with some games at the Mercy Benefit Rally,” said Joey Klobas, Director of Student Activities.

In both matches, all of the frosh were enthusiastically rooted for by faculty, family, and staff. In this game, Cana lost to Russi and Pilar won against Bolts.

The Frosh Olympics this year was one full of camaraderie shown by the newest members of the Riordan community. This event was only the second year with the house system. Angel Fontanilla ’22, student of Bolts House, said, “It was way more fun than I expected.”