The halls of CHS were seemingly transformed into a scene from the Wild West on Wednesday, April 29, the third day of Spring Spirit Week. Cowboys and cowgirls alike competed at lunch in the balloon pop competition, which the Class of 2016 won.

Junior Sallie Haas of Deal said most students dressed as either a cowboy or a Native American, but she chose to portray a “weird combination of both.”

During the second half of lunch, students gathered in the cafeteria to watch the balloon pop competition. Four competitors from each grade fastened an inflated balloon to each ankle and then fought to pop the balloons of their rivals while protecting their own balloons.

Freshman Audrey Mannion of Brielle competed on behalf of the Class of 2018.

“I was a little scared because I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing, but after the first round it was pretty fun,” said Brielle.

As the game progressed, cones marking the game’s boundaries were moved closer to the players so that the playing space was made smaller and smaller. This made the game more difficult and caused more frequent eliminations, said Mannion. Due to the shrinking court, she said “it was a lot easier for your balloon to pop.”

The three remaining players were senior Emily Winter of Middletown and juniors Johnny Callaghan and Jess Stansfield of Wall. Callaghan and Stansfield together eliminated Winter, bringing the junior class their first event win.

The sophomores came in fourth, freshmen in third and seniors in second.

At the end of Wednesday, the Class of 2016 leads with 105 points followed by the Class of 2017 with 85 points, the Class of 2015 with 70 points and the Class of 2018 with 45 points. Tomorrow’s theme is Movie/Book Character Day and the lunchtime competition is Cupcake Wars.