Eric Essagof ’12
Sports Editor

Charlotte Black ’11 is in a state of panic as she’s the last member of Team Pups N Suds left against five members of The Athletes. She crossed herself as her opponents gathered enough gator balls to finish her off.

They charge at once, unleashing the glossy multi-colored orbs at Black until she finally goes down with a shot to the thigh. Justin Honigstein ’10 of “The Athletes” lets out a triumphant roar.

That night, he and his teamates were champions.

“The Athletes” were comprised of Jack Hennessy ’10, Justin Honigstein ’10, Aaron Kliegman ’10, Mike Rustemeyer ’10, David Speer ’10, Tate Cooper ’10, Kat Strage ’10, Scott Feder ’11, and team captain Dustin Dobbs ’10.

This is just a sliver of the excitement on March 19 as 27 teams converged in the field house and gymnasium for the third annual Staples Dodgeball Tournament.

The participants all had some kind of uniform on, whether it was shoddy plain white tees, personalized jerseys, or stylish costumes, like Team Indie, decked out in flannel shirts and khaki shorts.

“Everybody’s rockin’ flannels and vans. We figured, why not make a team out of it?” said Matt Barry ’10, a member of Team Indie, which finished in fourth place.

Team names ranged from silly (The Raging Bunnies), to intimidating (The Abusement Park), to inappropriate, with teams such as I’d Hit That, and Balls Deep using double entendrés to their advantage. Yet, Balls Deep member Jimmy Kopack ’12 swears the name is innocent.

“We wanted something to do with dodgeball and it just came up as we were discussing it amongst friends,” Kopack said. “It had nothing to do with a sexual reference.”

“It was a successful tournament,” D’Amico, an official, said, “especially for kids who don’t usually play sports.”

Taryn DiSorbo, in her first year of organizing the event, gave credit to the many people who helped out, and the athletes themselves.

“I just want to thank the staff volunteers who made the event possible and the students for making the event a great success.”

Money raised from registration for this event will go to the tuition grants for the classes of 2011, 2012, and 2013.