Google defines a pep rally as “A meeting aimed at inspiring enthusiasm, especially one held before a sporting event.” One thing most students love before a big game is a nice pep rally. On Friday, January 27, Rockhurst held an electric one to get ready for the rivalry basketball game against Shawnee Mission East.

“My favorite part of the pep rally was the musical chairs,” junior Tommy Sonneburg said. “It was really fun to watch and pretty creative.”

The pep rally started with seniors Caleb Teevan and Hayden Spachman interviewing their respective winter sports coaches. Teevan questioned assistant hockey coach, Spanish teacher, and Rockhurst alum Mikhail Faulconer about the team and their season. Spachman talked with head basketball coach Billy Thomas about the growth of the team and put him on the spot to identify the player with the most ‘drip’.

Next, came the first game. Seniors started off on the right note with Drew Franke dominating at jump rope. It didn’t take very long for him to hop away victorious as the students from the other three grade levels all failed quickly. Jump rope was a new event to the pep rally scene, but the students seemed to enjoy it.

Then came the chicken nugget eating contest. Each contestant raced to eat as many nuggets as they could within a certain time frame. This event got very intense as all four contestants shoved loads of Dino nuggets down their throats.

“My favorite part was hearing all the cheering from the crowd and seeing my classmates cheer for me,” junior participant Josh Pryor said.

Seniors again won, with Patrick O’Farrell eating the most.

After the nugget eating, seniors kept their winning streak going with August Thompson taking the solo cup balloon race. In this event, contestants were challenged to move Solo cups from one table to another utilizing only a balloon. The participants all used different strategies, but Thompson’s proved most successful as he moved all the cups in less than a minute.

Up next, musical chairs. It started out with two members from each grade level until there were only two left standing vying for one chair. It became very intense that devolved into an all out chase for the final chair with sophomore Nic Cipolla literally running away with the victory.

As the excitement from that event started to subside, out came the Milk Man! The Milk Man is an old Rockhurst tradition that comes out every pep rally and throws milk into the crowd of yelling Hawklets. Students rummaged through the bleachers trying to find the milk. Once found, the lucky student will often chug the entire bottle, which is what happened this time with senior Wes Roeder proudly and prominently downing his bottle in a matter of seconds.

The pep rally closed out with a pair of basketball events, timely given the reason for the event. Seniors won the first contest, which was a lay-up/free throw/3-point/half court competition. The juniors claimed their first victory of the pep rally in the final game, topping the seniors in a shootout for the 3-on-3 competition.

Students who participated say this pep rally was effective at doing what it was intended to do.

“I definitely think that competitions bring up the momentum and school spirit for the big time games,” Pryor said.

Most pep rallies end with a spirit video made by SGA. This pep rally did not end that way, though, since it was just the first week back for seniors this semester after working at their senior service projects the three weeks prior. It didn’t seem to matter, however, as the games generated a lot of excitement for the big game that was to follow that night.

Related: Slideshow: Pep Rally Ahead of East Game