On Friday, March 15, the basketball court and the Auxiliary gym in the Health & Fitness Center became host to a variable pantheon of inflatable experiences. From 8 p.m. on Friday to 12 a.m. Saturday, March 16, the Late Night: Longwood Gladiators event was available to all students who had a student ID card.
The Longwood Campus Rec center and Lancer Productions hosted the event.
Senior Allison Ferrell, who worked at the event, said, “[For] the last two years, it has become well known. Last year, we had around 300-400 people show up, and people [usually] stay around until the end.”
At the event, students had the opportunity to win prizes by beating the Gladiators, who consisted of a group of athletic male and female students, along with several members of Longwood faculty, at either jousting or racing them at the obstacle course.
To beat the Gladiators at jousting, one had to make them fall off of their perch before they did the same. The prizes that were offered consisted of a choice of various forms of candy, a Frisbee or several water bottles. “This is the first year [that] we’ve offered prizes,” said Ferrell. Another way students could win prizes was if they caught a certain amount of certificates in an inflatable slot machine. Whatever prize was won depended on how many certificates were caught. 20 certificates earned one a T-shirt, while 11 earned you a sample of either deodorant or mouthwash.
But, even if one didn’t win against the Gladiators, that didn’t mean they went home empty-handed. For some students who are currently in the course, PHED 101, if they participated in an event against the Gladiators, their professor would award them extra credit. But the opportunity to win prizes was not the only new thing offered at the Late Night event.
“We’ve never had the big dome [before],” said Ferrell, referring to the dome in which up to four people could enter and try to score on each other by throwing balls into each others goal. “So, we always try to change it [the event] up a bit. In the past, we’ve brought in a mechanical bull, so it depends on what people like.”
For the first hour, the Gladiators could mainly be found around the jousting ring or the basketball court, shooting hoops as they recovered from getting jabbed at with a giant Q-tip. However, by the time the first hour wound down, the Gladiators found their way into the Auxiliary gym where the obstacle course was being held.
To win the obstacle course, one had to climb up a “rock wall” (all the holds were inflatable), slide down the back, squeeze through a rather tight space and then battle through a sea of punching bags before climbing up another rock wall, sliding down another slide and squeezing through one last space.
As sophomore Katy Keller waited her turn to go through the obstacle course, she said, “I like activities like this.”
“It’s something to do as an alternative to parties,” said Keller.
Along with the jousting and the obstacle course, students could try their hand at the “Big Dome” to try their hand at an inflatable form of soccer (or Hungry Hungry Hippos, just depends on how you look at it) or go up against another classmate in an inflatable boxing ring with rather big inflatable gloves.
Junior Sarah Ganrude said, “As an employee of the Rec Center, I enjoy going to these events they host and find it to be [a] fun [time] with friends.”
