The cheers of the crowd, the rumbling of the band, and the students in the bleachers filled Friday’s gymnasium for the annual pep rally. Athletic director Matt Thede guided the whole gym in harmony with the famous Mount Vernon theme song. Students were pumped up ready for the games to begin.
Volleyball player Carly Elliott competed in the mattress race with her teammates Emma Hoffman and Madie Boren. The race started out neck and neck with the band and girls cross country team. However, it was not enough for the band and cross country girls as Boren made a great comeback and got the win for the volleyball team.
A fresh, new competition in the pep-rally was a dance off between the teachers of each school. Elementary teacher Emily Stamp, middle school teacher Brandy Schurbon, and high school teacher Erica Nichols competed for the bragging rights of best dancer. After much consideration and cheering, Nichols came out on top and walked away with the victory. “The dance off was a blast,” said Stamp. “Shout-out to my 4th graders for teaching me the Aura Farming dance. If I would have remembered to do the 6-7, I think I could have pulled off the victory.”
“I thought it was super fun!” The winner, Nichols said. “I always accept an invitation to dance. Unless there is some kind of choreography, I oftentimes just listen to the lyrics and kind of mimic what the lyrics are saying when I dance.”
The annual basketball shot contest came next where three layups, three freethrows, and one shot from halfcourt needed to be made for the winning team. The varsity football team (Mikey Ryan, Eli Plotz, and Will Goodlove) competed against the boys cross country team (Dawson Scheil, Jay Sciezinski and Leo Tharp). Right as the game started the boys cross country team took the lead when Sciezinski swished two baskets. The varsity football team started struggling as Ryan was the only player to make two layups. At the end, Sciezinski banked the last halfcourt shot and achieved victory for the boys cross country team.
The pep rally ended with one last fight song, with everyone chanting and screaming. The Mount Vernon football team had their homecoming game later that night against Center Point Urbana. They annihilated the Pointers with a score of 34-14.
