The Olympic Spirit is alive at Oxford College.

Last week saw the arrival of a new class of students at Oxford, all of whom surely felt they were the best of the best. The Oxford Olympics, which helped welcome them to campus, determined once and for all who among those students was right.

A total of 23 teams, broken down by residence hall floor and wing, spent part of their first weekend as Emory students battling in good-natured competitions like a water balloon toss, relay races, an obstacle course, tug-of-war and even a trivia challenge. Some, like the students of first floor Dowman and first floor Stone, pictured above, drew their inspiration, if not their athletic prowess, from impressive places.

Once all the points were added up, the winner was third floor, Beta Hall, wing 2. (Beta Hall is part of Oxford's new East Village complex.)

Following the competition, students adjourned to Williams Hall (decorated by banners and flags designed by each team) for the medal ceremony. A few teams even earned some extra points for their floor chants. The Olympics closed with a singing of the alma mater. No more points were tallied.

The 2009 edition of the Oxford Olympics renewed a tradition that dates back to the early 20th century, when ROTC was part of the campus experience. Back then, student "companies" competed in a variety of sports to win the title of best team.

After World War II, Oxford went co-ed and a new tradition emerged, "Field Day," which pitted the first- and second-year classes against each other. The team with the most points at the end of the day won the prize. The current Oxford Olympics includes many of the features of the company competition and of Field Day.

The full award list is below.

First Place: Beta Hall, third floor, wing 2
Second Place: Haygood Hall, bottom north and bottom south
Third Place: Bonnell Hall, top floor
Best Team Spirit: Alpha Hall, second floor, wing 2
Best Team Unity: Bonnell Hall, top floor
Best Banner: Stone Hall, bottom and second floor
MVPs: Landon Jones 11Ox, Alpha Hall, first floor; Samer Abraham 11Ox, East Hall

-- Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA