By Maya Speece, CIU Student Reporter
The competitive spirit among CIU students really showed itself during one of the last big Student Life events of the 2025-2026 school year.
Held on the CIU soccer field, The Ram Relay marked the end of the House Collective Tournament, a staple of CIU’s student life, where each residence hall, named for a Latin virtue, competes for points in various events throughout the school year. In the last weekend before finals, each house tried to gain as many points as possible before the winner was announced.
Students engaged in competitions such as hot dog eating and Sprite chugging, as well as the trash can game, all in the effort to win last precious final points for their team.
Raegan Cannon came prepared to win points for Veritas in the hot dog eating competition with a hat that read, “It’s a bad day to be a hot dog.” She is now the reigning hot dog eating champion for the second year now.
The trash can game was the general favorite. The rules are that a representative of each team stood in a circle around an overturned trash can. Each participant held a section of a long bandana, and using their strength and dexterity had to avoid touching the trash can — while trying to get an opponent to touch the trash can. With the participants’ intense concentration and close calls with the trash can it is easy to see why it was the favorite event.
Kayla Burchett, a game organizer, found it interesting that the women were more fiercely competitive than the men.
“But I love how everyone is involved; I think it really connected people,” Burchett said.
When the games were over, the RAs (resident assistants) stood behind their house’s flag in the middle of the soccer field to hear the winner announced. The teams waited in anxious anticipation as dramatic music played. Over the public address system, came the announcement:
“In first place, West!”
The members of Sapientia as well as their sister house Fidelitas stormed the field in celebration, jumping and shouting “West side! Best side!”
“Number one, all glory to God,” said Austin Riggs, a West RA. “He has allowed us to build a community on the hall.”
“It would not have been possible without our guys, they were always there and supported us every single time,” added Asa Moser, another West RA. “When we messaged about an event, they said they would be there.”
The teams walked away from the event knowing that they had competed well no matter the score and built stronger friendships. The Ram Relay was an excellent finale to the 2025-2026 House Collective competition, and the houses are excited to see what will happen next school year.
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