97th Class Goes into Enemy Territory�
by Kirk Strohman
On a beautiful Friday afternoon members of Sphinx loaded into cars ready to head north for our fall advance. Hundreds of miles lay before us, but nothing could daunt our spirits and the excitement of seeing our beloved Buckeyes continue their winning streak against the Badgers of Madison, Wisconsin. Nine hours later the first wave rolled into Madison. Part of the group was able to conduct an early reconnaissance mission to test the hostility of Badger fans participating in the local night life...we were lucky to get them all out alive.
Saturday morning carried the unmistakable scent of Big Ten football. The studious links got in a couple hours of reading early, but by shortly after noon we were ready to explore Badgerland by daylight. Our first obstacle came as we tried to leave the parking lot. Turns out we were sharing a hotel with the Badger football team, and it took all we had to wait patiently as the team walked in front of our cars to load onto buses. Eventually we made our way to State Street and felt right at home with all of the other Buckeye fans singing fight songs and the like. The pregame festivities were capped by a trip to visit tried link Tom Koch and a few other Buckeyes. A "Sphinx Drinks" was in order, and our crew retired back to the hotel to take advantage of the free cocktails and appetizers to prepare for kick off.
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What long-held Ohio State tradition combines football, parades, a tiara, and one week of great events? Homecoming! This year�s �Homecoming 2003: A Celebration of Champions� began Oct. 14th and ended Oct. 19th, providing faculty, staff, students, and alumni the chance to come together in a variety of ways and show their Buckeye spirit. From �Diva Diction� to the Homecoming Parade to the showdown between Iowa and Ohio State, there was something for everyone. Honored to be participating in it all were the twenty Homecoming Court members selected to represent the University. Like previous years, SPHINX had a strong presence on 2003�s Homecoming Court, with Ann Foisy from the 96th class and Josh Harraman, Kristi Martinez, Katy Poth, and Becky Tippett from the 97th class participating as Court members.
During Homecoming week, Court members had a packed schedule with events like Football 101 with Chris Spielman and reading to children from local elementary schools. �Diva Diction� was a fabulous introduction to the art of slam poetry. On Friday evening, the parade drew a crowd of students and Columbus residents to watch a variety of student organization floats and generate excitement for Saturday�s football game. By far one of the best floats in the parade was put together by SPHINX; beginning early Friday afternoon, the 97th class (with a great deal of help from Mr. Ranz) created a large pyramid in SPHINX black and gold. After the parade, Court members headed to the pep rally where they saw Tahira Rehmatullah (97), one of the emcees for the event.
Homecoming day led to much excitement as SPHINX members Katy Poth and Josh Harraman were selected to be the 2003 Homecoming King and Queen! Everyone had a great time and got to watch our Buckeyes take home yet another football homecoming victory.
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