Beat Kent.

Enough said.

Kent Day is Saturday, November 11, when 10 Loomis Chaffee athletics teams travel to Kent with bragging rights on the line for another year.

LC students have been getting in the spirit all week. Banners are hanging from dorms, students have been dressing in different themes each day with Friday being “class colors” day. On Friday night a dorm parade starts at 7:30 p.m. and will end in Olcott Gym with a pep rally starting at 8:15 p.m. After the pep rally there is a bonfire, and food trucks will be on campus. The Loomis Chaffee Athletic Association (LCAA) organized the week’s activities.

“It’s important to get everyone involved, whether you’re an athlete or not,” Sam Mancini, one of the senior leaders of the LCAA, said. “Students who are not playing in Kent Day games might feel a bit disconnected, so by making a Spirit Week, everyone can get involved and get excited. We also have banners hanging from dorms to get that school spirit and camaraderie going. It’s a good vibe.”

Loomis, of course, hopes those good vibes carry over to Saturday and its teams rack up victories.

“Kent is a longtime rival, so it means a lot,” said Sam, who plays basketball in the winter and is on the track & field team in the spring.

The Loomis-Kent rivalry dates back to 1921, when a Kent football player stole a silver spoon during the post-game tea service for the two teams at Head of School Nathaniel Batchelder’s house. Post-game tea service? Yes, different times.

These games can always be marked by the times.

The banner hanging from Batchelder Hall says, “New Rival Plz? Kentaint Kenough,” a play off of the song “I’m Kenough” from the blockbuster Barbie movie. The banner on Ammidon Hall also refers to the movie: “You’re Just Ken (t)” with a lion’s head (Kent’s mascot) with an X through it. Flagg Hall takes a more direct route: “Soar. Score” at the top, “Roar No More” on the bottom. Sandwiched between is a lopsided score flanked by drawings of two Pelicans, their orange pouches looking big enough to swallow a football. Then there is “Loomis Can You Kent” hanging from Cutler Hall with some nice artwork.

As both campuses gear up for the annual showdowns, the Loomis Chaffee Athletics Department has been preparing to host the Division I New England Prep School Track Association (NEPSTA) cross country championships with more than 500 girls and boys competing on Saturday, November 11 on the home course. 

The Loomis Chaffee girls are coming off a Founders League championship title, the program’s third in a row. The team has finished first in all of its invitationals, opens, and dual meets this season. Last season the LC girls won the NEPSTA championships for the first time since 1989 and only the second time in program history. The LC boys team finished second in the Founders League championships last weekend and placed third at last year’s NEPSTA championship.