The courtyard was crowded with students who formed a human tunnel as sports teams ran through March 3, celebrating the completion of the winter sports season.

Once every season, the athletic department hosts a pep rally in the courtyard, which includes performances from Archer’s cheer team or dance team. For this year’s winter pep rally, the community celebrated middle and upper school soccer and basketball teams. Each sports team ran through the human tunnel and was called up to the podium. Then, Archer’s Athlete Leadership Council spotlighted athletes and each team’s progress and accomplishments of the season. Students awarded each team with a round of applause and cheers.

ALC organized this season’s pep rally for the first time. Previous pep rallies were organized by Director of Athletics Kim Smith. ALC member Tavi Memoli said the council started preparing for the event a few weeks before the rally. They put together the results of each team’s season and games and delegated tasks such as announcing each team’s accomplishments at the rally.

“I was a MC…My role this year was to announce each team’s accomplishments, their wins [and] their losses — just appreciating them for all the hard work they’ve put in this winter,” Memoli said.

The pep rally kicked off with a dance titled “You Bring the Distant Near,” performed by Archer’s dance company. Dance company member Sylvie Haacker (’26) performed during the event and said it was really fun since it was the company’s first time performing this dance at a pep rally.

“I think that ‘You Bring the Distant Near’ has a really upbeat and celebratory dance, and you’re able to show the hard work that everyone put into the season,” Haacker said. “So I think that definitely spreads the joy of being able to share everyone’s accomplishments from the year.”

Sixth grader Haley Lazarus participated in middle school soccer this winter season. This was her first year being involved in a pep rally.

“I like how we just run through the tunnel,” Lazarus said. “That kind of just gets me excited about everything, and I really enjoy it.”

Lazarus said her favorite part of the soccer season was playoffs since the team made it to Pacific Basin League Championship final. Lazarus said all the soccer games are really fun as she got to meet new teammates from different grade levels.

Senior Isabella Millman was on the varsity basketball team for two years. Millman said she will miss her teammates a lot, but the pep rally was a nice way for them to feel united.

“I feel like towards the end — especially because we’ve all at that point known each other for a while and we’ve all gotten a lot closer — it’s really fun,” Millman said. “Especially because there are so many inside jokes now, and we all kind of have a better idea of how everyone else plays, and we can kind of play better as a team.”

Freshman Julia Ong was a team member of the varsity soccer this season. Ong said playing sports is stressful at times but having pep rallies recognizes all of the hard work student-athletes put in during their seasons.

“It’s been a while since I’ve thought about soccer, but after the pep rally, I kind of had like a flush of emotions,” Ong said. “There’s a lot of people that I hadn’t really seen in a long time or interacted with. Even though we go to the same school, it’s really nice to get reconnected with them.”