The senior den games came to down to the wire on April 26 when the final two teams went head-to-head at the spring pep assembly.

It was time to “get peppy” once again as Pep Club invited students of all grade levels to join in a series of “Minute to Win It”-style games and announced the 2024 Prom court in Bishop Gym.

The moment most seniors had been waiting for – the final event in this year’s den games – kicked off the event. As Kevin Jarosz motivated his den to pull harder during their tug-of-war, onlookers cheered with encouragement. Last year, Jarosz’s den took second place in the competition to English teacher Mary Fremeau’s den: Jarosz was out for blood – er, redemption – in 2024. His team, marked by their pink bandanas, was pitted against that of science teacher Brianne Ferriero.

Jarosz’s den won the annual trophy after defeating the opposing team in tug of war. Seniors Kyler Cambell, Brady Johnson, and Mang Pi shouted in celebration – according to Jarosz, they were unaware that a trophy was part of the bargain.

With the main event out of the way, the focus of the pep assembly turned to a number of games that pitted the various classes against each other. Sophomores Kuba (Jakub) Slupski and Omar Lutfiyev led their class to victory during the balloon-carry competition against freshmen and juniors.

Freshmen Kaylee Kreitzer and Arianna Evans work as a dynamic duo to try and beat the sophomore class. The freshmen were hoping to redeem themselves after a notable loss at the winter pep assembly. Unfortunately, they did not achieve their desired goal.

Juniors Dominic Wasserstrom and Vincent Spadoni also tried to beat their senior opponents during the same game, which involved two students moving across the basketball court, their backs together and a balloon in between. Teams were not allowed to let the balloon touch the ground, making this event a tough challenge.

Fellow softball teammates Ava Pietanza and Jasmyn Trigueros attempted to support each other and the entire junior class to beat the seniors, a class that made for formidable opposition.

As Pep Club set-up for the next event, adviser Elizabeth Mastroianni announced seniors Yohana Mora and Yanni Cruz as this year’s Prom Queen and King. Traditionally, Prom courts are comprised of juniors (and Homecoming courts are made up of seniors), but Pep Club decided to throw tradition to the wind, and instead took nominations for the Class of 2024.

In the final showdown, seniors versus sophomores, the two classes faced each other once again for a cup game, in which they had to either flip the cup right side up or upside down, then smash them, or move the cups to their side of the gym. Seniors Carlos Allen and Fernando Cavillo-Morales went up against sophomores Manny Figueroa and Isaac Rodriguez in the last game of the day. Once again, the seniors were victorious.