Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) put on its first lip sync battle on April 30. The event was organized to support two local organizations: Amazing Grace Organization and Stand Up for Kids. Hosting the event was first-year Ivory Randle IV and sophomore Shannan Higgins The night ended up being a success, with many positives that were able to be taken away from the event, as SAAC was able to receive 500 t-shirts in donations.

SAAC President and Softball player Sara Dominguez further explained what the organizations were all about.

“Amazing Grace Organization works to help support the well-being of patients and families that are going through cancer treatments and tries to give them different outlets for having fun,” Dominguez said. “Another local organization was Stand Up for Kids. They help reinvade children into society that are living in homelessness. So rather than just giving them food resources or clothing resources, they help them figure out how to get schooling, how to get tutoring, how to get jobs or interviews.”

The judges for the night made up a prestigious panel. Seattle University’s Rudy the Redhawk had a lot to say about each performance. Seattle U’s All-American Basketball star Eddie O’Brien was in attendance, Assistant Director for Compliance and Student-Athlete Services Teri Carson was there as well as local Seattle rap artist Fantasy A.

Battle one of the night was women’s golf versus women’s swimming. Women’s golf performed songs to idolized boy band Backstreets Boys, dancing to “I Want it That Way” and finishing it off with “Backstreets Back.” Diving into act two was women’s swimming, who did their performance to “Cry me a River” by Justin Timberlake. Women’s swimming won this round as they swam their way to a score of 31.8 out of 40.

Women’s rowing versus men’s golf was battle number two. Paddling their way to the stage first was the women’s rowing team who performed the song “Determinate” by Lemonade Mouth. Men’s golf was a duet that danced to “Color Esperanza” by Diego Torres. The pair finished their stellar romantic performance by one of them lifting the other into the air, getting a score of 36.

The next battle was men’s soccer versus women’s volleyball. Men’s soccer kicked things off as they sang and danced along to “We Got Salah” by Kevin Murphy. Women’s volleyball spiked their way to a victory by choreographing an international mash-up with a near perfect score of 38.5.

Volleyball junior Maja Stojanovic had a lot of fun at the event.

“It was fun working as a team and doing something other than volleyball. The experience itself was very nerve-racking at first, but it was fun to see what the other teams were doing.”

Track and field went against the tennis team. Serving up an eye-catching performance was tennis, as lone wolf Miko Pasimio took the stage for a solo performance of “Pony” by Ginuwine. Pasimio topped his performance by ripping off three tank tops. Track and field ran onto the stage after, dancing to “Ice Cream and Cake ” while walking around eating ice cream and cake. Winning that round was the solo performance by Pasimio, who scored a 33.

Women’s soccer versus men’s swimming was battle five of the night. Women’s soccer scored with the first performance of the battle. Two players danced a stellar performance to “Finesse” by Bruno Mars. Men’s swimming danced along to “Mine” by Taylor Swift, topping it off by ripping their flannels open. However, that wasn’t enough for swimming as women’s soccer took the win, collecting an almost perfect score of 39.5 out of 40.

Men’s basketball and men’s baseball came up with last minute routines. Dribbling their way to the stage first was basketball, shaking their hips to “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira. Men’s baseball hit it out of the ballpark as they chose to sing along to “Sweet Caroline,” getting the whole crowd on their feet. Unfortunately, neither team received a score.

Finishing the battle off was softball versus women’s basketball. Basketball and softball both did a mashup of songs. Winning this round was women’s basketball, with a score of 38.8.

While the judges got together to decide the overall winner, host Randle from the men’s soccer team did a dance performance to keep the crowd entertained, performing “Bartier Cardi” by Cardi B.

Randle thought the first annual Lip Sync battle set the stage for those to follow.

“I think it went really well. It was our first year doing it. All the teams showed up and put forth their best effort and kind of came together, especially during the stressful time with it being midterms, just to have fun and be relaxed,” he said.

Winning the overall battle was volleyball. The team had three minutes to conduct a routine to face off against Seattle U athletic faculty. The judges concluded the scoring in a tie, challenging a rematch for the athletic banquet later in the year.

Volleyball member red-shirt first-year Rachel Stark explained gave final thoughts on the event.

“I think the process was really fun leading up to it!” Stark said “We were talking about different song selections and everybody wanted different things and everyone kind of had their song that they wanted to do, so we decided to just mash them up and put them all together.”

Caylah may be reached at
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