As the students filled the 520 entrance on the last day of the Summer Phase, there was one thing on most of their minds: Gray Bee Olympics. The groups assembled in their respective group rooms and planned for the day ahead. This year’s selection of events was slightly different from previous years, replacing volleyball with a new obstacle course event. This means the full list of events this year would be the obstacle course, kickball, trivia, flag football, and dodgeball. With all the games set and the groups assembled the games began.
Blue Section started with kickball, and you could see that many teams were struggling to get into a groove with it being the first game of the day, especially Fr. Valerian and Fr. Timothy, leading to them tying for last. However, Fr. Thomas had no issue adjusting and got right into a rhythm taking first in the event. In the Shanley, Maroon Section started with dodgeball, and Prof Blood dominated the competition for the win, despite missing multiple core players. “We knew we were the best, so all we had to do was dominate, and you saw what happened,” stated Donovan Cadogan ‘25. White Section had a grace period for the first block, so lastly was Gray Section who started with Trivia. A far slower and more intellectually based event than most of Gray Section struggled with the event, leading to Fr. Eugene winning the event easily. Black Section was supposed to do Flag Football, but the event was canceled for the Girls’ Division. Garnet Section went into its day with the new obstacle course, where Pearl Coleman won.
The Maroon section had a grace/group period in the second period. Moving to Blue Section, despite winning pretty comfortably in the first event, Fr. Thomas could not find their footing in the new obstacle course, ending up last, with Fr. William raking in the gold. White Section started their day off with Trivia, with Fr. John taking the win. Lastly, Gray Section had dodgeball, which ended up being far more competitive than Trivia, with only two teams getting points in the event, the rest tying for last. In the end, those teams ended up being Frank Hill for second and Father Phillip taking the win. Due to the first game cancellation, Black Section started their day with Handball, in which Rosemary Anderson took the win, a reoccurring event during the game. In their second event, Garnet played kickball, where Katherine Thorton triumphed.
The groups had begun getting a comfortable rhythm and the competitive spirit in the air was palpable moving onto the third event. Maroon came off their break with flag football, and Prof Blood once again took first. Blue Section was on break, so onto White, who was on handball. While they came last in Trivia, Fr. Boniface pulled together and managed to earn first in this event, while the opposite happened for Fr. John. Gray had the same outcome as the last event in the obstacle course, with Fr. Philip taking home the win and Fr. Eugene ending up last.
Black Section was onto kickball, where Rosemary Anderson once again prevailed. Garnet Section had their turn at Trivia, with Pearl Coleman getting their second win of the day.
Past the halfway point into the fourth event, Maroon was on Trivia, and Prof Blood continued their streak, taking home the win. Blue Section’s event was flag football, and through multiple close games, Father Celestine pulled through and got the win. White was on dodgeball, and the Trivia winner Fr. John also took this event. Gray Section was now on kickball, and Fr. Phillip continued the winning streak, taking this event as well. It was a similar story in the Girl’s Division, with both previous winners, Rosemary Anderson in Black and Pearl Coleman in Garnet, taking the wins in the obstacle course and handball respectively.
In the fifth event, it was Maroon’s turn to play handball, with Prof Blood once again getting the win. Blue Section was on to Trivia, where Fr. William took their second win of the day. White Section finally got their chance at the new obstacle course, where Fr. Boniface took home yet another win, and the Gray Section had a grace period. In Black, Sister Mary Downie got their first win of the day, beating the previously undefeated Rosemary Anderson.
In the penultimate event, Maroon played kickball, Joe K brought home their first win of the day. Blue Section was on to dodgeball, where Fr. Valerian also took home their first victory. White had flag football next, and Fr. Boniface continued to prevail, taking home the win, and more of them for Gray Section, with Philip taking home their fifth straight win in handball.
In the day’s final event, Maroon had the obstacle course; with Prof Blood taking home yet another win. Fr Thomas took home the win in Handball for Blue Section, and Fr. Cashmere took home their first win in kickball for White; and for Gray Section, you guessed it, Fr. Phillip took home the win in Flag Football. Coming off a grace period, both Girl’s Division Sections came back swinging. Rosemary Anderson maintained the same level of dominance, taking home yet another win in Trivia for Black, while Katherine Thorton took home their second win in dodgeball.
As the sun set on the final day of the Summer Phase, the Gray Bee Olympics concluded with intense competition and remarkable performances from all sections. Each team showed their strengths and weaknesses throughout the day’s diverse events, from the physically demanding obstacle course to the strategic depth of trivia. Fr. Phillip ultimately took the win over the Boys, as well as overall around the school, while Rosemary Anderson ended up winning with the Girls. When asked to comment on their performance, Fr. Philip Group Leader Merlin Dilone ‘25 said: “Job’s not finished. We still got group games to win.”The excitement and drive to excel remained palpable with the group games still ahead. The Gray Bee Olympics crowned champions and set the stage for future challenges and achievements.
