Cherubs flocked to north campus for an evening of friendly competition at the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion, highlighted by a five-on-five soccer tournament and daring dives from a 15-meter board.
After days of preparation, led by New York natives Jonah Baron and Yhonatan Yehudai, over 20 cherubs flocked to the indoor soccer field for pool play and bracket-style playoffs. As the night went on, the competition intensified as teams fought tooth and nail for the highest elimination round seed.
“That competition really lit a fire,” Connor Tang of Los Angeles said. “Everyone’s competing and having fun, and that’s what I want. That’s all I could have asked for.”
“We had a couple of moments that got a little bit heated, [but] had a lot of fun,” Josh Singer of Rockville, Maryland, said.
Daniel Gu0 of Princeton, New Jersey, didn’t expect the games to be so hardcore:
“It was the most cardio I’ve done in a long time,” Guo said.
Cherubs voted Singer as the tournament’s MVP. After allowing the first goal of the evening, Singer didn’t let another ball past him all night. In the tournament championship, Singer dove to block the opposing team from scoring the first point of the game, and ultimately led his team to victory.
After the soccer tournament ended, many went to the pool to cool off after the match. Connor Tang was one of the cherubs brave enough to dive off the nearly 50-foot diving board.
“I didn’t know how high it was,” Tang said. “When I looked down, it was way higher than you think it is… After my brother and Willie jumped down I just went for it, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
Connor Tang and his twin brother Justin both play water polo. They both said a highlight of the evening was finding a water polo ball and passing it between them.
“It brought me back a little bit to what I used to do,” Connor Tang said.
Community and academic associates Gabi Egozi of Miami and Juliet Allan of Dallas jumped in the pool, fully clothed.
“I didn’t think I was gonna go swimming,” Egozi said. “I was kind of tired of basketball because I was not doing so well. I jumped in.”
Luckily, her jean skirt survived the plummet.
“It was a fun night because it was all us,” Justin Tang said. “We made our own soccer tournament, and it shows how passionate we are about sports and being active. Playing basketball with the CAAs and Roger was fun.”
