By Brian Park
Executive In-Depth Editor
The competitors stood patiently at the start. Their determined faces showed that they were ready for just about anything that stood in their way to victory. As soon as they heard the word ‘go’, they were off with their bulky helmets.
After rushing past on scooters, they danced between ladders, leaped over hurdles and then finally trudged through the inflatable obstacle course, the final stretch. Who would slide down first and become the winner?
This was the obstacle course, one of the three main events that the Primetime Knights hosted in the last two weeks.
Designed by the junior leaders, these events were supposed to help develop leadership because it was part of the leadership class, according to junior Molly Driscoll. One example of an event they created was the biggest winner earlier in the year. Last week 23 students raced in kayaks at Wheeling High School, and there was jousting along with the obstacle course on April 18 with 20 students.
In this extreme competition, students or staff in district 214 could have competed for many prizes, including a $25 Dairy Queen gift card, $50 cash prize, and a 2-day pass to L.A. Fitness.
According to Driscoll, this is the second or third year of the event, and they started planning this early wintertime. Competitors had to pay to get in, but it’s not about the money. Junior leaders use these events as training to be leaders.
“We basically just wanted the student body and our teachers to come out and have a good time,” Driscoll said. “Not every event we run is perfect, but we learn from our mistakes and that’s how we build as the year goes on.”
Junior leader Bree Geweniger was the victor of jousting, where athletes would try to knock one another off of small platforms using combat sticks. Her strategy for this event was to focus on keeping balance on the platform and not falling off.
“I wouldn’t expect doing that[events] would be that much fun, but it’s a lot of fun when you’re in it,” Geweniger said.
In the obstacle course, Junior leader Jesse Cima took second place. He also was upset about placing third in kayak.
“[In] the combat stick i was going to try to duck,” Cima said. “When they hit, they swung, they would miss and they would fall, but it didn’t work at all.”
It is important for students to participate in the events so they could be involved in school events, according to Cima.
“It’s a lot of fun and it promotes athletics too,” Geweniger said.
