All the Sides of Dawgfest

Article by Brittney Vidal, M&M TIPster
Photos by Maddie Kim, M&M TIPster

This past weekend, TIPsters participated in Dawgfest. Dawgfest is a TIP field day where multiple teams compete in a series of events to become TIP champions. This year there were five teams- Orange, Red, Green, Pink, and Blue. Each team was required to come up with a team name and a team-cheer. Below are the interviews with one member from each team.
Madeleine Kim (Maddie) was part of the orange team, the Orange Mongeese. When asked why they chose that name, Maddie replied, “We wanted something goofy and funny. We also wanted it to rhyme with a lot of things for an easy cheer.” Unfortunately the other teams didn’t have as good of a strategy in Maddie’s opinion. She thought that the Red team’s cheer was creepy, and that the blue team’s was interesting, but not everyone knew it. The pink team’s was unmemorable, except for the gymnastics stunt at the end. Green had cool costumes, but it was uncreative. “We were loud and proud!” Maddie says about the cheer she made up for the Orange team. Maddie participated in the Watermelon relay, beach ball relay, and the water balloon relay. Her favorite event to watch was the Seven Seas because it involved people getting hit by flying water balloons. “If we didn’t win, we sure as anything got second. We kicked butt!” says high spirited Maddie. “Go Orange Mongeese!”
Red team member, Emma Lawson shared her thoughts about Dawgfest. She was part of the Red Army, a joke about communism. Her reason for choosing the name “Red Army” was that the guys in her group were obsessed with Russian accents; they wanted to have a silly reference to Russia in their cheer. When asked about the other teams’ cheers, Emma’s reply was, “I thought they were a lot more creative than ours.” Emma participated in the cheesy puff toss and the water balloon relay. In her opinion, rock tree bridge was the most entertaining event to watch. The Dawgfest was a fun day for Emma, however she did not feel that her team was the champion.
The Green Reptars was the name chosen by the Green team. Lorenzo Bright was a member of this team. Lorenzo talks about his fun filled day at Dawgfest. Lorenzo enjoyed watching the other teams’ cheers, but he had to agree that the Reptars were the best. Lorenzo was a part of the beach ball relay and rock, tree, bridge. His favorite event to watch was the watermelon relay. As an extra question, I asked how he felt about the blue teams disqualification from several events; he replied, “I laughed. I thought it was hilarious!” Never one to be put in a bad mood, Lorenzo stayed confident and positive as the green team won only one event.
Very competitive member of the Pink Flamingos, Keaton McManamy had a lot of fun during Dawgfest. As a third year, he enjoyed the traditional events that Dawgfest always hosts. His thoughts about other teams’ cheers were, “They were good. Green was my favorite other than ours.” Keaton participated on rock-tree-bridge, the pudding feed, and the four legged race. Even though he didn’t participate in the seven seas, it was his favorite event because of the water involved. Keaton is very sentimental and enjoys TIP traditions. He was very disappointed when frisbee was cancelled due to lack of time. Fortunately, Keaton believes that his team either got second or first. He anxiously awaits the results.
Keridan Ogletree was a member of the blue team called Blue Ice. “Brittney, my good friend came up with the name,” says Keridan, “she is like in love with Vanilla Ice and she wanted to be able to do the Ice Ice Baby dance.” Keridan participated in the watermelon relay and rock tree bridge. Her favorite event to participate in was the cheers. “Ours was awesome. Everyone else’s was lame. We put a lot of effort into ours and theirs was just FAIL!” says Keridan. Always one to be competitive Keridan was disappointed about the many event cancellations. Though not everything went as planned, Keridan had a good time talking and hanging out with friends. “It was so much fun. I felt so motivated,” Keridan expresses. The downside of the day was that it was extremely hot, sweaty, and dirty. Still, Keridan always finds a way to have fun. She believes that she rocked her events and can’t wait to find out who the champion is.
After interviewing people from each team I would have to say that, as always, Dawgfest was a success. The students had fun in a safe, competitive environment and many made memories of a lifetime. Though not everything went as planned the TIPsters didn’t let that get them down. It was a great day and one of TIPs best ongoing traditions.