Tuesday, April 19, day two of Spring Spirit Week brought about fierce competition between all grades. The theme was ‘preppy’, and brands such as Lilly Pulitzer and Vineyard Vines could be spotted in the hallways throughout the sea of brightly colored clothing. The senior class came in first place with 100 percent of their class participating in the theme. The seniors also clinched the victory for the clothing drive, with the highest number bags collected.

The lunchtime competition was the “Balloon Pop,”. The sophomore class won the event, followed by the juniors and seniors tying for second, and the freshmen placing third.

Sophomore council member and member of the winning balloon pop team Matt Avena of Middletown said that though it was his second year participating in the event, he was surprised with the level of physicality at this years event.

“The event was much more physical than I expected,” Avena said.“Last year it seemed more friendly and fun, but this year was very aggressive and competitive. Everyone was bumping into each other, and at one point I got knocked out of the arena.”

Avena also attributed his team’s victory to having a gameplan prior to the start of the event.

“Going into the event, we tried to form alliances that would give us the best chances of winning,” Avena said.“We talked to the juniors and freshmen, and we all agreed to work together against the seniors. Surprisingly, all of our plans and alliances ended up lasting until the end of the event, which helped us to win.”

Junior Becca Cleffi of Manasquan was the last member of her balloon pop team left in the ring when she won the tie for second place. This was Cleffi’s first time participating in the event, leaving the arena with not only a second place win for her grade, but also a bruise to the face.

“I can’t say I was surprised by the physicality of the event considering it’s always pretty intense and that’s why it requires permission slips,” Cleffi said“…I never thought that it would lead to me getting punched in the face or that I would walk away with multiple bruises but if the physicality of it wasn’t there, it wouldn’t be as fun of an event.”

At the end of day two, the seniors held on to the first place position with a total of 105 points, followed by the sophomores with 90 points, the juniors with 80 points, and the freshmen with 65 points.