Far removed from the dystopia of Panem, Rowan After Hours (RAH) hosted a “Hunger Games” night at the Student Recreation Center this past weekend.

Complete with an archery range, cake decorating and a hair braiding station, the night was capped off with an archery tag tournament.

In the tournament itself, competitors were divided up into 11 teams of five and placed in a system of brackets. Teams could score points for their time by hitting their opponents, or in some cases catching the arrows for an additional three points.

Senior health and motion management wellness major Dan Smith was the leader of his team, “The Smiths.”  He said the tournament was out of the ordinary.

“It was just fun and it was something different,” Smith said, noting the game’s similarities to dodge ball.  “I heard archery tag and was like ‘that’s really random’ and it was something I’d never get a chance to do so it sounded fun. It was just a different experience, including archery is really cool because that’s not something you do everyday.”

“The Smiths” were out after the first round.

The tournament itself was organized by Tom Marsella, one of RAH’s graduate coordinators.

“We chose the “Hunger Games” because it is a very popular franchise among students our age,” Marsella said.

He noted that the books and movies based on the series came to a conclusion last November.

“We also had found the Archery Tag game and decided to them the night around that and created the “Hunger Games” Night,” Marsella said. “It’s a unique game that we have never done before and it was very cool watching students come out and enjoy it.”

Joe Merkle, a junior elementary education and American studies dual major, was one of many students who didn’t care if they won or lost – they just enjoyed the competition.

“I liked that it had a paintball set up,” Merkle said, referencing some of his experiences in the past with paintball. “It was cool the obstacles that they put in the way. It made sense that you were out when you went over the lines but I didn’t like that you couldn’t get your teammates back in.”

Merkle wished he was able to take part in the tournament for a longer period of time.

“I hit one person in the face and had to apologize, but it was cool because it was different,” Merkle also added, still full of adrenaline from the games.

Junior mechanical engineering major TJ Mulderig was a part of the winning team, the “Merry Men (and Women)” who stood victorious over their opponents, the “Tributes” at the end of the night.

“We’re excited,” Mulderig said on behalf of his team at the tournament’s conclusion. “Winning is fun, the competitive atmosphere and the fact that you can get hit by flying objects it really lights a fire underneath you.”

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