With snow falling, over 180 students from Lutheran South and OHS packed into the two gyms at  Lutheran South High School to dodge, dip, duck, and dive for a friend in need.

After OHS student Breanna Colombo (12) was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer, her friend Caroline Derryberry, a Lutheran South student, wanted to do something to support her and raise money for her family. Derryberry came up with the idea of a dodgeball tournament on Jan. 9 that would bring the two schools together in support of Bre.

“It makes me feel really good that I would have a friend that would do that or that another school would want to help support me. It makes you feel really good about your friends,” Colombo said. “It was great to see everyone and all the people there supporting me.”

The tournament included a variety of students ranging from freshmen to seniors. Eighteen teams of 10 participated. The teams were split into four pools, and after pool play, every team entered a single elimination tournament.

“I think dodgeball was a great idea for a fundraiser because it got everyone involved in a fun activity,” Tricia Williams (12) said. “The competition of the tournament made it exciting.”

Williams was on the winning team, the Dandy Dodgers, along with Emily Roberts (12), Lexi Pauls (12), Allison Frisella (12), Jake Stockmann (12), Jake Stegmann (12), Norvell Streeter (12), Quentin Crayton (12), Steve Freukes (12), and Connor Bartow (11). The team went 2-2 in pool play before going 4-0 in the single elimination tournament.

“At first I thought we weren’t going to do that good because we lost our first game but after that we came together to win,” Streeter said.

OHS offers congratulations to the Dandy Dodgers and to Bre for now being cancer-free.