Whether it’s the girls’ volleyball team suiting up as ninjas or the boys’ basketball team keeping it classy with ties and collared shirts, it is not unusual to see a sports team at Palo Alto High School rock bold attire on game day. But today was a little different. The girls’ varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams surprised nearly the entire school by performing a flash mob on the quad during brunch to promote their home games against Presentation High School tonight.
A cluster of white shirts and jean shorts burst out into the quad from all angles, music blasting, hands clapping and feet dancing, topping off the unexpected choreographed routine.
“It was to pump up Paly spirit and get the study body to get excited,” junior varsity volleyball player Charlotte Alipate (’13) said. “We all practiced yesterday for an hour.”
After starting off their non-league season with a 9-0 record and taking first place at the High Sierra Tournament in Reno this past weekend, the girls’ varsity team has a lot to dance about already. Not dropping a single set in Reno, the Lady Vikes closed the tournament with a championship match against Saint Francis, Sacramento, winning 25-22, 25-15. To top it all off, both outside hitter Maddie Kuppe (’12) and setter Kimmy Whitson (’12) made the all-tournament team.
As for this week, the Lady Vikes’ only game is tonight, as emphasized by their performance today. To some students, this was a great reminder of the game tonight. Others were simply confused.
“What was that?” onlooker Emilee Osagiede (’12) said.
Whether students thought the performance was amazing or confusing, the Lady Vikes got their point across: the first chance to watch the 2011 teams play is today. Afterwards, the team’s co-captain Kuppe made an announcement during third period challenging other Paly sports teams to try their own flash mobs. So will this be the next fad at Paly? Who knows, but the Lady Vikes may have found a new way to advertise Paly sports games.
The three teams will play in the main gym against Presentation High School, starting with the freshman team at 4 p.m. The junior varsity team plays at 5:30 p.m., and the varsity starts at 6:45 p.m.
To get score updates from tonight’s game follow “The Viking Magazine” on twitter.
