At 7:00 PM on Sunday, August 28, there was a showdown for the ages. Clayton cross country and swim teams faced off in a high stakes ultimate frisbee game. At the first shout of “Ultimate,” both teams ran at full speed, anticipating the extraordinary game to come.

The teams were quite evenly matched, cross country relying on their speed and their endurance, swim team counting on team chemistry carried over from many of the members being on the same water polo team. Although it was a battle, the swim team triumphed 10-8.

The stakes were formulating the other teams pep rally and although this has not been confirmed by either team, only time can tell.

Personally as a member of the swim team, I enjoyed this game. I liked the idea of different sports teams coming together to play games. I made new friends and met new people. Even when I was trash talking the other team, we all knew it was in good fun. It made me wonder why more teams don’t hold games like this.

Schools have sports for many reasons. Representing the community, improving academics, teaching leadership, teamwork and most importantly, fitness. These inter-team competitions seem to only heighten this sense of teamwork and community unity. For me, it made me proud that our community can have friendly competitions like these.

It also made me wonder if any other teams would be willing to compete in similar competitions. I felt that it was a good team bonding exercise, it helped focus on teamwork without being too serious at all. I felt like it improved our community, and let us all have fun together.

Running down the field with my team at my back felt right. Running against another team of new friends and other I knew felt pretty good as well. I think that any team could benefit from friendly competition with others at this school, that this kind of game represents the kind of community Clayton is. All I can really say is that I’m eager to see what stakes will be in place next time. I’m anticipating the new people I can make into friends, and I’m simply excited for the next game.