Viking Olympics have become a popular tradition to kick off Homecoming at DHS

The winning pink team of Viking Olympics 2017. Front row L-R:Kalea Oftedahl, Jaden Anderson, Leah Weis, Maddy McEnaney, Amanda Kuenhner, Emma Johnson, and Ella Kittelson. Back row L-R: Back row L-R: Tucker Young, Jace Johnson, Seth Shindelar, Tye Anderson, Cote Tweten, Briggs Dlhy, Brendan Lovstuen, and Brady Hogan (photo courtesy of Maddy McEnaney)

The fifth annual Viking Olympics were held this Sunday at Decorah High School. The Viking Olympics have become a popular tradition at DHS to kick-off Homecoming week and promote school spirit.

The DHS marketing class organizes and plans the afternoon. Students form teams of at least two girls and two boys from each grade, for a total of at least 16 students on each team. Each team member pays $10 to participate. The money raised is a fundraiser for DHS and this year a portion of the proceeds will be sent for hurricane relief. Over 250 students participated and helped with Viking Olympics this year.

"I have participated in the Viking Olympics for all four years and love how it brings the school together before the big homecoming week," shared senior Rachel Grimstad. "It definitely gets the school fired up for all of the traditions and festivities we have here at Decorah. My favorite part this year was definitely the dance off (competition) because of how fun it was to watch the different teams getting really into songs like 'Let It go' or 'You Don't Know You're Beautiful'. A lot of the participants enjoy the Tug-o-War competition but I think ending the day with a dodgeball tournament is what keeps students coming back year after year."

Teams are matched against each other in athletic contests, trivia, and their willingness to get out there and perform in front of each other. This year a scavenger hunt was added. Each team was sent a text, requiring them to take a picture of the team at a specific location and post it on Twitter, tagging the student section account, then they would receive their next task.

At the end of the day, the team with the most points is declared the winner. This year the pink team won. Senior Maddy McEnaney was on the winning team. "I wasn't really sure if we were even going to be in the top five when they were announcing winners. We got third or fourth in most of the events, so we weren't expecting to get first! We won dodgeball at the end of the day which put us ahead of all the teams," shared McEnaney. Her favorite challenge was the talent show. "Four boys and four girls from our team made up a dance. It was really fun to get to know some of my teammates and classmates better," said McEnaney.

The winning team's prize is eating lunch from a local restaurant on school grounds later this year.

Check out this video the marketing class filmed to highlite events during Homecoming week: https://www.facebook.com/1643503532554109/videos/vb.1643503532554109/1970844539820005/?type=2&theater.