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Last night, 710 dancers and their moralers took to the Multi-sport Complex to kick off the final countdown until THON 2013 with the commencement of Color Wars.

Color Wars takes place throughout THON weekend as a way to keep dancers entertained and occupied during the 46 hours. Dancers and moralers are divided into three teams, blue, red, and green, to compete in a variety of games and events, each earning points that will ultimately determine which team will emerge victorious.

Before the event, dancers heard from The Clay Hamman Family, a Four Diamonds Family paired with Alpha Chi Omega and Pi Kappa Phi. Mr. Hamman, whose son is now cancer free, spoke of the unwavering support his family has received from THON and the Four Diamonds Fund. He reminded the dancers that while their time at Penn State will soon end, their support and participation in THON does not have to.

After members of the Overall Committee briefed the dancers on information and policies for THON weekend, the competition officially began.

In the spirit of this summer’s games in London, “THONlympics” was announced as the 2013 Color Wars theme. In years past, dancers and moralers were the only official participants in the competition, but this year Four Diamonds children and families will also have the opportunity to participate and earn points for the color.

After some fiercely competitive relay races and clothespin robbery, Blue slipped into the lead with Red and Green following closely behind, but there’s still plenty of competition yet to take place!

We dance in 8!