The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for the highly anticipated annual Camp Starlight Olympics Apache Relay. When Reveille blew, the Blue Invaders and Epic Whites squared off in a race around camp that involved more than 270 events and the participation of every camper. It was an EPIC INVASION!

For those who are unfamiliar with the Apache, it is no ordinary relay. It’s more of an adventure during which campers have the opportunity to showcase everything they’ve learned at camp over the summer—a summer at Camp Starlight in an afternoon, if you will. Every area of camp is incorporated in a race that combines athletics, hobbies, and the arts to create a medley of tasks at which everyone—not just the strongest and the fastest—has a chance to shine…and shine all of the campers did!

The Epic Whites took an early lead in the boys race and were able to maintain a healthy advantage until about halfway through the race, when the Blue Invaders caught up to them and the two teams were briefly neck-in-neck. White was able to pull ahead again, though, and from that point they not only maintained but steadily increased their lead for the rest of the race to emerge victorious.

The girls Apache was much more closely contested, coming down to the final seconds. Although the Epic Whites took an early lead, the Blue Invaders were there to win and overtook them, though the two teams were so close that it was too difficult to call who was in the lead for much of the race. The judgment came in the final moments when the teams dueled off in singing the Alma Mater. The Blue Invaders were the first to give a perfect delivery, defrost their shirt, climb into bed and wish David and Allison goodnight to claim the win for girls side.

In a show of good sportsmanship and in true Camp Starlight Olympic spirit, all teams congratulated each other on a hard fought battle and a great race.

The Blue Invaders and the Epic Whites, separated by mere seconds, simultaneously sing the Alma Mater as one of the final deciding tasks during the Girls Apache Relay.

Day 3 Olympic update from Blue Generals Tana Mcclven and Matt Perlman…

Girls Blue Invaders

On day 3, the Blue team thoroughly invaded the Epic Whites by sweeping the morning with victories in gymnastics, triathlon, and archery (just to name a few). In the afternoon, the blue team put up a good fight in the Swim and Boating meets. To follow, the Senior girls dominated the lacrosse game with a final score of 15-9. At night, all of the girls cheered on the Upper Seniors as they took on the annual Camp Starlight Rope Burn.

Boys Blue Invaders

The Blue Invaders opened up the day with a slim 60 point lead. The Seniors started the morning off strong with a dominating sweep on the tennis courts. Following in the Seniors’ footsteps were the Upper Plebes trouncing the Epic White team on the basketball court. Completing the Upper Camp sweep, the Upper Plebes crushed their opponent son the soccer fields.

The Juniors kicked the afternoon off strong with a sweep in tennis. Meanwhile, the upper camp split activities headed into the Senior Rope Burn. All of the Seniors were extremely excited for Rope Burn, which they had been lowing forward to since the first day of camp. They were able to translate their enthusiasm into victory by being the first team to burn through all three ropes. On to day 4!

Coming soon…a Day 3 update from the Epic White Generals.

2014 Epic Whites Sing Banner

One of the most anticipated events of Olympics is the 65th annual Sing. Soon the Generals will hand over the reins to the Sing Leaders to show off their skills. Both teams are busy building their sets and practicing the catchy tunes. Camp Starlight Blog got a sneak peek of the sets and got the run-down from the Epic Whites and Blue Invaders Sing Leaders. The Blue Invaders Sing Leaders are Hannah Pierra. and Jason Silberman.  Rachel Simon and Rico Riello are leading the Epic Whites.

The Rec Hall is full of excitement as the team creates costumes and finalizes set

2014 Blue Invaders Sing Banner

designs for the big performance. “Being sing leader means the world to me because it is something I’ve been waiting for 10 years being a former camper,” Jason S. said.  The Blue Invaders are sprucing up their UFO themed-set before its “flight” on Tuesday night. “Both of us are happy to be in this position and see how the songs and sets come together and to see Epic Whites Sing Banner hanging in the Rec Hall,” Rico R said. Both teams will be judged on sets, costumes, alma mater and march. Rico says the Epic Whites are promising an entrance that has never been used before; while the Blue Invader’s performance is sure to be out of this world.

Day 2 Olympic Update from Blue Invader Generals Tana Mcclven and Matt Perlman…

Blue Invaders Girls

The morning started out with team meetings and scores announced. Blue has a slight, 35 point lead. The Blue Invaders invaded the Starlight soccer fields with high hopes and great spirit in keeping their lead. Blue won 6 out of 8 games across multiple divisions! Volleyball, basketball, gaga, and softball were also contested. The scores are SO close…GO BLUE!

Blue Invader Boys

The Blue Invader Boys had a great day! They were all involved in multiple activities, including Cooking, Triathlon, and Sports Broadcasting. The boys showed great spirit and enthusiasm, which has been seen thus far throughout Olympics with various cheers and the mass collection of points. After a great morning, the boys met their Sing Leaders, who then taught the team the march. From the initial response, it seemed the kids really liked the song.

Shortly after Sing practice, the Lower Camp Boys took part in the Boating and Swim Meets, while the Upper Camp Boys had individual sports. All in all, it was a great day of activity andcompetition! We are looking forward to day 3!

Going into day 4 of Olympics competition, it’s still a VERY close contest for both Girls and Boys (only 78 points separate the boys) and with the Apache (one of the biggest events of the Camp Starlight Olympics) this afternoon, it’s sure to be an intense day of competition!

Today, Upper Seniors of the Blue Invaders share what Olympics mean as their last year as a  camper.

For some campers Olympics is about winning, but we believe it’s more of the experience that counts. Everything is more meaningful because it’s your last time doing it. In other words, every moment is precious. As Upper Seniors, Olympics is a lot of responsibility, but it is welcomed responsibility. We’re finally getting to do the things we’ve watched others do since our lower junior summer. Olympics is gaining the respect of everyone who helped to mentor us over the years. We are put in challenging situations like Rope Burn and our reactions during the games are just as important as the outcome.  It’s being able to lead cheers at  team meetings and pass off the enthusiasm to the rest of camp.It’s a way to show our Starlight Pride.  Olympics is being speechless after senior hockey and only being able to utter the words “I can’t believe I just did that”. Most importantly, Olympics is understanding what it means to be a role model to the entire girls camp.

USG 2014 Blue Invaders

The Olympic Generals had a lot to report from Day 2 of the Competition. We’ll start the day out with an update from Epic White…

From girls Epic White General Hayley Miller:

We’re having and EPIC time on the Epic White team! The Juniors had a ball at soccer. The Upper Inters killed it at basketball. The Debs played their hardest at volleyball. The Seniors were SO excited to play soccer on Alumni.  All of the Epic Whites were geniuses at the Trivia Bowl. It was an epic day and we can’t wait for the rest of the week!

From Boys Epic White General Alex Bright:

Day 2 will definitely be considered as a successful one for the Epic White boys. They produced many wins across the day to not only reduce but overturn the early, day 1 set back of 120 Olympic points. The traditional second day of “messy events” was the morning focus with a selection of the camp’s Option choices on show for precision points. There were wins in Chess, Cooking, and Kan Jams but, unfortunately, defeats in Ping-Ping, Waterskiing, and Fishing. Whilst Radio & Golf brought single point defeats, the Whites also came out on top in Sports Broadcasting, Video Production, and Eco Science. Split victories in Archery, Disc Golf, Trangle Ball, and the Triathlon, were worth a lot of points. So all were well fought draws!

The afternoon continued in fantastic form with a clean sweep in Upper Camp. The Seniors used the previous day’s disappointment in basketball and soccer to produce a hard fought 6-4 victory in Lacrosse. Jared B. scored a brace and Josh B. dipped in with many assists. Both the gamma & sigma Lower Plebe teams won in Basketball. Zach S. scored the winning shot in a superb last quarter victory turn around. Zach S. scored the third in a quick fire treble for the team in the dying seconds of the match. The sigma hockey team was also victorious to give the Epic Whites five wins out of five in the afternoon events.

Lower Camp spent their afternoon down at the waterfront as they competed in the Boating and Swim meets. The Juniors swept both events while the Upper Inters were narrowly edged out by 8 points in Boating. However, they turned around their disappointment to beat the Blue Invaders in Swimming.

The first Sing practice took place with the entire team together with their terrific Sing leaders. The march song has been learned and is read for the main singing event. There was, however, a slight dent in what would have been a perfect day for the Epic White boys when they were defeated in the annual Trivia Bowl. But they can take pride and have a sense of achievement in what they produced. General Bright is delighted by the character shown by his team. Go Whites!

Coming soon…an a Day 2 update from the Blue Invader Generals.

The scores going into today’s games:

It’s still anyone’s Olympics!

We’ve tracked down our Girls Olympic Generals, Hayley Miller and Tana Mcclven, to get a firsthand take on the Olympics action. Here is what they had to report.

Day 1

Epic White

The white team has an Epic first day of Olympics. The Juniors were hot to go at softball. The Lower Inters gave their biggest rahoo at newcombe while the Upper Inters rocked gaga and tennis. The Debs got heated on the soccer field and psyched on the basketball courts. The Seniors crushed it at volleyball in the ‘watahh we really oughta beat the blue team! W hite Team! 1,3,5,6, IT IS OLYMPICS! GO WHITE!

Blue Invaders

Olympics began last night as the camp was divided into two teams, and we awoke this morning P-S-Y-C-H-E-D to get the games going. After opening ceremonies and intense team meetings, the Blue team invaded the Starlight fields in hopes of triumphing over the Epic Whites. With gaga, soccer, basketball, and more, the blue team is ready to score, score, score! GO BLUE!