Last Friday night, teams of two were locked in fierce competition.  It was the first annual ping pong tournament at EHS, and the competing students were determined to win.

After ten rounds of battle, “The Ping Pong Playas,” consisting of juniors Alex Gray and David Grant, emerged victorious. They won two trophies and the cash prize.

“It was super competitive, but it stayed friendly so I think it went awesome,” Student Council officer senior Clayton Schneider said.

The ping pong tournament was the final hurrah for Beauty Week, an initiative started by Student Council to spread positive thoughts and help everyone see their unique beauty. The event included the tournament, two guest speakers and nachos.

“It wasn’t a super difficult event to set up, most of the planning went into the beauty week itself. Other than setting up the tables and serving up some sweet nachos, it was just a matter of spreading the word, so we could get teams to sign up,” Schneider said.

For those who were there more for a fun Friday night than to actually work up a sweat playing ping pong, the night did not disappoint.

“It was super fun. I loved hanging out with my friends and playing ping pong. Even though we didn’t win, it was still a fun and different thing to do on a Friday night,” junior Elaine Meyers said.

Even though Meyer’s team, her and junior Jessi Krebs, only won two games, they still had fun.

“Overall, it was just a great night,” she said.

Some competitors donned custom made t-shirts, or even costumes, for the event.

“We were trying to think of names a few days before so I started looking online and I found the one that we chose, ‘We Beat Forest Gump,’ and then a little while after, I suggested that we dress up like the characters because it sounded like a fun idea,” senior Corey Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson wore a long beard and wig in order to properly portray the character Forest Gump as he runs across the United States in the movie. In spite of his creative costume, his team lost both games, but that didn’t lower their spirits.

“I thought it was a lot of fun. There were many more people than I had expected but Student Council advertised the event very well and there was a great turnout,” Wilkinson said.

The turnout was considered a success by Student Council, too.

“I loved that so much of the school got involved,” Schneider said. We even had a couple of foreign exchange students playing.”