First Year Olympics: A Twenty Year Tradition Going Strong—and Mitty Hall With the Win for 2024!
Volleyball, dodgeball, and the cardboard canoe race are just a few of the competitions that bring out the best in Gael Spirit.
One of the pinnacles of global sports competition is the Olympics, where athletes compete every four years in summer and winter games. In recent years, Saint Mary’s Gaels are often among them, taking part in another high-stakes competition in Moraga, where Gael Pride and bragging rights for being the best residence hall are on the line. That would be the First Year Olympics—one of the most memorable experiences for new students—and guaranteed laughter and fun for all participants.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Saint Mary’s First Year Olympics. In the 2024 competition that concluded this past weekend, Mitty Hall was crowned the champion.
A rainbow of team colors graced the De La Salle lawn on Sunday, September 8, with first-year students from Aquinas in maroon, Assumption in orange, Augustine in royal blue, De La Salle in yellow, Justin in red, and Mitty clad in navy. Two weeks into the academic year, these first years were ready to bring on the competition.
Early Lead for Assumption
Assumption Hall started ahead of the competition by winning the Weekend of Welcome rally night event on August 22, which earned points and put them into an early lead coming into the main competition’s weekend.
Opening ceremonies this past Sunday were filled with cheers and excitement as the first-year students showed their hall spirit. Along with that, each hall was able to earn points for sportsmanship as they encouraged and cheered on their fellow classmates from other halls. Aquinas Hall blew the judges away with their team cheer and earned the top points for this category.
Diving into the thick of the games, the teams headed to the Joseph L. Alioto Recreation Center for volleyball and dodgeball—which brought out a heavy competitive spirit among the teams. Each hall rotated in 15-minute intervals to take on an opposing hall. As play progressed, it was evident that Mitty Hall and Aquinas Hall were the top ones to beat. Mitty Hall participant Elijah Jackson ’28 was clearly having a ball. “The Olympics helped me feel connected to my dorm and the community that surrounds me,” he said. “I enjoyed making memories with my peers—and ultimately winning was amazing!”
While the competition heated up on the courts, each team sent their best builders to start assembling their craft for an epic waterborne adventure: the cardboard canoe race. Equipped only with cardboard, scissors, and duct tape, each team had one hour to make the most out of the supplies and construct a boat that could be paddled across the pool.
There were points awarded for style and points for performance. Assumption’s boat design beat out all the rest—which earned points—but unfortunately, the canoe did not hold up in the water. Augustine’s cardboard canoe did not make it past five yards. And in the last 15 yards of the race, De La Salle, Aquinas, and Mitty all had their boats declared submerged. Final result: no winner for the event.
When all the points were tallied, Mitty Hall squeezed out a win over Aquinas Hall. Congratulations to the 2024 First Year Olympic Champions—and to all the students for making this 20th-anniversary competition one to remember.
“It was the best event to bring your hall together. I met all of my college friends during Weekend of Welcome, but we really became friends during FYO."
- Cameron Wiggins '04
Higher, Stronger, Faster…And Having a Blast
Celebrating two decades seems the perfect time to look back on how this Gael tradition began. Set the Wayback Machine for 2004 and the inaugural First Year Olympics. Kory Hayden ’01, then Director of Recreational Sports, coordinated the original games: an all-day event that included partner relays, water games, and students spelling out words using only their bodies. With the competition stretching into the late afternoon, teams also faced off in softball, flag football, basketball, dodgeball, volleyball, and soccer (whew!). The Joseph L. Alioto Recreation Center had not yet been built; events took place on the various athletic fields and gyms, including the Saint Mary’s Stadium.
Let’s look into this event a bit more to understand why it is memorable.
The Colors: T-shirt colors for the first-year halls have remained the same from the beginning to this day.
- Aquinas: Maroon
- Assumption: Orange
- Augustine: Royal Blue
- De La Salle: Yellow
- Justin: Red
- Mitty: Navy
The Games: Hall pride is front and center at the first-year Olympic event. Resident Advisors do not compete in the games per se, but they play a crucial role: They’re the ones who recruit participants from their halls, encourage them to take part in the fun, and show their best effort. And they’re on the sidelines at every event, cheering their team with hopes for their hall to be crowned champion.
As befitting any Olympiad, there’s opening fanfare to kick off the games. For the SMC First Year Olympics opening ceremony, the halls gather at De La Salle Lawn to chant out their team cheer, show off their creative T-shirt, and compete in survivor-like games to earn points for their hall. A few longstanding favorites include a tricycle race, word puzzle, and Rubik's Cube. These games require unique skills to win, with fellow students cheering on the competitors representing their hall.
Pencil Toss is a game that especially energizes the teams. Each team sends up a representative to balance pencils on the back of their hand and catch them by flipping them upwards. If a student can catch them all, they stay in; if they drop, the participant is out. The pencil amount increases each round, and as the halls remaining in the competition dwindle the excitement and energy increase.
Athletic games are where the competitive nature really comes into play. Each hall rotates and plays 15-minute competitions at the Joseph L. Alioto Recreation Center. For the past few years, games have included volleyball and dodgeball.
The cardboard canoe race was introduced to the First Year Olympic Games when the Joseph L. Alioto Recreation Center was built. Teams work on their cardboard canoe constructed with duct tape in hopes it will last two lengths of the pool, with a participant paddling to victory.
Scorekeeping is a multi-faceted process, and sportsmanship is a major contributor to the championship title. Points are earned for winning competitions, celebrating others, and making an effort.
The Champion: Only one hall claims the championship title each year. And in the 20 years of First Year Olympic competitions, only a few halls can claim three or more titles.
De La Salle and Mitty Hall have the most wins overall—five apiece. De La Salle won in 2012, 2013, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Mitty stakes claim to the only hall to win three in row—2008, 2009, and 2010—with wins 2017 and 2018, making for five total. Championship winners from 2004 to 2007 have been lost mists of time; there is no documentation at this time to verify the champs.
This longstanding tradition at Saint Mary’s is near and dear to the hearts of SMC alumni, and it continues to bring together the first-year students in camaraderie and Gael Spirit.
“It was the best event to bring your hall together,” is how Cameron Wiggins ’18 put it back in 2014. That year, he and the team from Justin Hall claimed the title. “I met all of my college friends during Weekend of Welcome, but we really became friends during FYO. It’s just a day full of friendly competition and fun with your new best friends.”
2024 First Year Olympics Photo Gallery
Photos by Rebecca Harper
