East Rockaway seniors hoist Silver Cup at Rock Rivalry

The East Rockaway High School seniors left their final Rock Rivalry event with a bang when they were announced as the winners of the annual competition last Friday.

The seniors used an Atlantis and under the sea theme for their finale, earning 87 points overall in the competition, while the juniors finished second using an alien and outer space theme, netting 83.5 points, the freshman finished third with 41.3 points for their Italian museums concept and the sophomores finished fourth, capturing 37.5 points with a Bonnie & Clyde 1930s theme.

“This year was an awesome year because in 2020 the students did all the work and a week before the show, the work shut down because of the virus,” said Alycia Fahrenkrug, the coordinator for Rock Rivalry. “Last year, we had a very modified Rock Rivalry. These kids were unreal because the senior class was the only class that ever did a Rock Rivalry, and that was when they were freshman, and the other classes hadn’t really ever seen one, and it still felt like they hadn’t missed any years.”

After missing out on the full event in their sophomore and junior years, 70 of the 91 students in the senior class banded together to win it all and capture the coveted Silver Cup.

This year marked the 86h Rock Rivalry. The weeks-long competition included Volleyball Night, a Quiz Bowl trivia competition, Sports Night and then the “entrance” category, which took place on March 17 and 18. Each class chose a theme for their entrance and then had to write a 30-minute script based on the theme, which included writing five songs and having them played by the school band. They were also judged on their sportsmanship, props, banners, a mural and the construction and decoration of a concession stand they were tasked with building for their peers.

Fahrenkrug said she was proud of each grade level, and lauded the seniors for putting in the effort to win the competition after missing the previous two years.

“They put their heart and soul into it for six weeks,” she said. “They were together every day doing every aspect of this tradition and they had a great time.”