Every year in May, Maryvale holds a school wide event called Gym Meet. It is a competition between grades in the upper school and red versus grey (our school colors) in the middle school. Teams come up with a theme, marching formations, songs, and costumes and each group competes for the title of gym meet winner and the gym meet spirit banner. Groups practice weeks in advance during school and sometimes before or after school to perfect the routines for the judges. Each routine must be under 15 minutes or 20 minutes for the seniors. The seniors also have a tradition of announcing each student’s college at the end of their routine. Often, the seniors win; however, there can be irregularities, like when the juniors took the banner in 2025.
This year, the freshman’s theme was “Fresh out of the 80s” to celebrate Maryvale’s 80th birthday. The sophomores theme was “Sophomores in the Dreamhouse” based on Barbie. The “Junior Jets” featured Top Gun inspired formations, and the seniors donned super hero inspired masks and capes with their college logo as “Super Seniors.”
All grades put in their best effort, however, the seniors came out on top! The freshmen, and their theme, fresh out of the 80s, put on a great show that threw us back to the past. The sophomores entered the Barbie Dreamhouse with their plot of escaping while being locked in Barbie’s never ending closet. The juniors flew us away on a trip like Top Gun, but eventually the seniors and their superhero theme took the final banner. Everyone had a great time, and the seniors could not be happier to finish their year off with a big win. It was the second one in a row for the class of 2026!
