By Isabelle Flener
In the first round of the KD Cup Competition, held on Friday, Oct. 13, students emerged as the champions of the kickball tournament. The KD Cup has three major tournaments, with kickball being the opening event and the final championship game. The KD Cup is an opportunity for everyone on campus to get together and play fun, light-hearted tournament games. Teams were separated into students, faculty, and staff members.
The action began with the staff teams, with an intense final match between the students and the faculty in the end. The exhilarating 45-minute game featured impressive saves, teamwork, and crowd-pleasing catches, with students clinching victory with a 5-4 score.
Sporting bright yellow LC t-shirts, the student team included approximately 15 students. Izabella Claussen, who was a sophomore, was among them and had not previously participated in any student tournament event.
“Events like this help to provide more socialization, so then in classes or even walking in the hallways students are less anxious. It creates a fun and happy environment, and I really enjoy coming to stuff like this,” Claussen said.
On the other side of things, there was one faculty team and two staff teams with numerous members. Andrew Price, a grounds maintenance worker, played on staff team one and, despite losing their only game, found the experience valuable.
“Doing tournaments like the KD Cup helps with team building, offers employees a break and overall, a chance to have a great time,” Price said, “My favorite part was meeting a bunch of different people and playing my heart out.”
Food, snacks, beverages, and desserts were available for all team members to enjoy, allowing everyone in the school to come together for a friendly game of kickball.
“My favorite part was winning and taking the W,” Claussen said, “It feels very good, although I did not contribute much to the team, but I will still take the credit. For the whole team, it feels great.”
With students triumphing in the first round, the staff and faculty teams can still compete for wins in the upcoming volleyball and dodgeball tournaments.
“In the future games, I believe my team will need a bit of preparation in advance, and hopefully, we’ll have our other team members who were absent this time,” Price said.
The next KD Cup event is a volleyball tournament on Dec. 1, 2023. The third event, a dodgeball tournament, will take place on Feb. 2, 2024. Students interested in joining the fun can contact Daniel Nosce, Jared Hennings, or Sean Hill; faculty members can talk to Deb Witsken, Mike Lemons, or Shane Callahan to get involved; and staff members who want in on the action can reach out to Gabe Springer, Lori Artis, Laura Fallin, or Laura Inlow.
May the best team win!
