An estimated 100 people attended this year’s Zumbathon on Oct. 15, said Jennifer Ball, Physical Therapist Assistant program director.

The OCCC Student Physical Therapist assistants celebrated National Physical Therapy Month by hosting the Zumbathon.

The Zumbathon combined the original cardio workout that is done to Latin music with Aqua Zumba, which is done the in the exact same manner as the land Zumba but with the movement and music slowed to keep time with the resistance the water offers.

After two hard fought games “That Team Over There” prevailed and will represent OCCC in the National Intramural Flag Football Championships Nov. 4 in Dallas.

Utter domination occurred on Oct. 14 when That Team over There met the Smash Brothers in the 8-on-8 Intramural Flag Football Championship series, in a best two out of three playoff series.

TTOT went on to win the first two matches and were crowned 8-on-8 Flag Football Champions after the best of three play-off series, scoring a combined 96 points in quite elegant fashion.

“Elegant fashion” did not end with the plays on the field as TTOT sported pink T-shirts in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

It would have been a mistake to confuse their honorable expression for weakness however, as was evident in TTOT’s 50-26 Game 1 victory.

Dancing in a swimming pool is just as much fun as rocking on the dance floor and the swim-dancers unknowingly get an intense workout, said James Hensley, aquatics and safety training specialist.

Offered in the campus aquatic center, Aqua Zumba is a type of aerobic exercise that stems from the original Latin-style dancing form of Zumba.

Aqua Zumba, however, takes those principles and throws the dancers in the water, giving them a type of cardio experience that many probably haven’t encountered before.

“It is one of those classes that everyone comes out looking like they had a great time,” Hensley said.

The average person can use anywhere from 400 to 900 calories in a 45-minute Aqua Zumba class, according to Zumba.com.

OCCC’s Aquatic Center will play host to Westmoore High School’s “Jaguar Invitational,” a multi-high school swim tournament, on Saturday, Nov. 12.

The Invitational, currently entering its 12th year, is a multi-divisional event that will include 10 teams hailing from both the 6A and 5A sporting divisions respectively.

Westmoore Jaguars Swim Coach Brent Long expects an exciting time for the schools as well as the fans.

“This year, the teams that are participating look to be very evenly matched,” Long said.

Long said that, despite this being a rebuilding year for the Jaguars, his team is more than ready to compete.

An offensive shootout between the Ballers and the Smash Brothers marked the intramural 8-on-8 flag football game on campus Sept. 30. The Smash Brothers came out on top 42-36, scoring the winning touchdown in the final 40 seconds of the game.

At first there was a little confusion on who would be on whose team because of a shortage of players on both sides. As a result, Eric Watson, Recreation and Sports specialist, allowed them to play 7-on-7.

The Smash Brothers started out the gate strong with the second play of the game being a beautiful deep connection between quarterback Victor Quezada and receiver Will Crome for the touchdown.

The Ballers tried to answer the Smash Brothers quick score with a long ball toward the end zone but it was picked off by Crome.

OCCC Aquatic Center will once again play host to Chesapeake Swim Club’s Halloween Invitational Swim Meet taking place Oct. 28, 29 and 30.

Entering its 15th year at OCCC, the event is a USA Swimming sanctioned meet and will have a multitude of events ranging from relays to freestyle heats and will consist of team, as well as individual events said Chesapeake Swim Club Head Age Group Coach Kathy Mendez.

All swimmers taking part must qualify for the event by meeting USA Swimming’s specified time trials. The entry deadline is Oct. 19.

A transition to online registration may be the cause for a decrease in team enrollment for OCCC’s intramural flag football league.

A consistent and popular fixture for OCCC’s Intramural sports program, Flag Football registration for the fall season has fallen short of what was expected for the semester with only four teams being formed.

Wellness Center attendant Alex Savage said he believes that one of the reasons lies in the change to a predominantly online registration process that only a few students seem to be aware of.

“We use to have a sign-up sheet at the Wellness Center desk where students could just sign their names,” Savage said.

“Now they have to go to an intramural league website and register a profile to form a team.”

The hungry and studious students of OCCC were treated to an energetic display of the Latin-based dance craze Zumba in the College Union on September 8.

Zumba instructor Sandi Price said OCCC students and staff wanted to show off their moves to raise fitness awareness as well as demonstrate the fun students can have while blowing off some steam.

“The whole point of Zumba is to feel the music,” Price said.

“No two instructors are ever going to be the same. If you go out to a club no two people are going to be dancing the same, so every experience is unique and that is what makes [Zumba] fun.”

The holidays are just a few months away and that usually means good home-cooked meals with the family. And with that comes the difficulty of staying in shape.

Good thing OCCC’s Wellness Center is around to help.

For a nominal fee, there are many different types of fitness classes offered in a range of time slots designed to work with student schedules.

The OCCC Nursing Student Association and Student Physical Therapist Assistant Organization will sponsor the 3rd Annual Life Saver 5K and 1 mile Fun Run Sept. 17.

With its number of participants growing each year, OCCC Nursing Student Association President Jennifer Hader is keen to keep that trend going.

“I would very much like to encourage all current and previous nursing students to participate in the 5K, either by running or volunteering their time to help us make this event even more awesome than the last two.” Hader said.

Race Director and Associate Nursing Program Director Deborah Myers also is optimistic that the number of participants will grow with the upcoming fun run.

“We’d like to have 500 participants and we’re hopeful that we’ll reach that number for this year’s run.” Myers said.