Freshmen flex their Olympic skills in annual event
Despite the restrictions required to ensure the health and safety of all, Frosh Olympics took place, continuing the decades-long tradition.
February 3, 2021
As part of the freshmen orientation program, the Frosh Olympics officially began in 1974, and was used to scout for incoming freshmen athletes.
Organized and moderated by Ronald Isola ’61 and the coaching staff, the very first Olympics had competitions involving all common sports and games such as chess, checkers, relay races, tug-o-war, and even boxing. Although it has changed over the decades, Riordan has kept this tradition for the freshmen alive.
“As a former athletic director, I always felt that this event was one of the best athletic events of the year,” stated former athletic director Ron Isola. “Seniors to this day might not be able to tell you who won the WCAL football championship, but I’m sure they can tell you who won their Frosh Olympics.”
Additionally, Gigi Digiulio ’21, Student Parliament Co-President, responded, “Through experiencing my first Frosh Olympics, I’ve found that this is an amazing event for the freshmen. It allows the new students to get to know their fellow peers, while having fun and participating in the friendly competitions.”
From Oct. 21 to 30, Riordan held the annual freshmen-exclusive event and house competition, but not without new limitations. Unlike past years, the competition was only held outside and socially distanced. For this reason, traditional games, such as capture the flag and tug of war, were unable to be a part of this year’s events. Furthermore, instead of having it just on one day, the games were held over a span of five days, where small groups of freshmen would come to play on the Mayer Family Field each day.
JT Torrea ’21, the Student Parliament Co-President stated, “I wish we could have done tug of war this year. It’s one of the most memorable Frosh Olympics traditions for me and I was a little disappointed we couldn’t have done it because of restrictions.”
Similarly, Digiulio ’21 added, “We tried our best to provide the students with fun games, all while adhering to the health guidelines. Hopefully, next year this event can take place the traditional way.”
My main goal was to create an experience that the freshmen would never forget and I think we did that! There was nothing better than seeing some new faces and putting some smiles on them.
— Benny Willers ’08
Despite the noted limitations, freshmen participants, Student Parliament, and staff seemed to be content with the event and work they did. The olympic games included archery, cup pong, cup stacking, knocking down cones, wiffle ball, soccer, cornhole, and dodgeball.
In terms of the house competition, Russi rocked the games for the second year in a row with 149 points. Bolts came in close second with 144, while Cana and Pilar placed third and fourth place, respectively.
Freshman participant Riley Manlulu ’24 responded, “I really enjoyed the Frosh Olympics! It was a lot of fun, and I got to meet a lot of people in my class. My favorite game was archery because it was the most challenging game. I’m in the House of Pilar. We tried our best, but we’ll come back in the next competitions.”
Finally, House Director Benny Willers ’08 remarked, “I thought the Frosh Olympics went great! I didn’t know what to expect being the current circumstances we had to operate under. My main goal was to create an experience that the freshmen would never forget and I think we did that! There was nothing better than seeing some new faces and putting some smiles on them.”
