Hawthorne High School’s Senior Superstars took place on Thursday, February 27, 2014.

Superstars is the traditional competition of senior physical education classes at HHS. The six teams of seniors, which are fairly divided by gym class, spent all morning contending for victory. The competing gym classes clashed in five different events: a foul-throw shooting contest, in which teams faced off to be the first to score ten baskets; a running relay; an obstacle course relay; a volleyball game; and finally, a tug-of-war competition. Decked out in team t-shirts, color-coordinated accessories, bows, colorful socks and shorts, and festive face paint, two teams faced each other one-on-one to move on to the subsequent rounds until the final round of each event yielded a winner.

After a morning of intense competition, the final competition, the tug-of-war contest, came down to a first-place tie between the Period 8 and Period 2 gym classes. When senior gym teacher and coordinator of Superstars, Allyson Gerdes, announced, “The way the scores are right now, whoever wins this event determines who will win Superstars,” tension enveloped the gym. With the gym’s balcony seats packed with underclassmen and bleachers teeming with competing seniors now turned spectators, the Period 8 team members took hold of the rope on one side and Period 2 grabbed the other as Gerdes prepared to blow the whistle. The starting whistle’s sound commenced the intense tugging. The Period 8 team pulled, pulled, pulled, as Period 2’s competitors were yanked forward, further and further until, conclusively, Period 8 had conquered enough of the rope, and the final whistle was blown. The Period 8 team was crowned the winners of 2014 Senior Superstars.

Jenna Dyksen, captain of the Period 8 team, recalls, “Going into it, nobody thought we were going to win, including ourselves, but we ended up winning foul shooting, then tug-of-war to take the win, surprisingly!”

After the competition, seniors were ushered into the cafeteria, where pizza was served and Monsters University was projected to allow students to relax after a day of athleticism, fun, and intense competition.