The Greeks battled one another during Greek Olympics on Sept. 28 in the Willow Bowl. They competed in multiple events but only one organization came out on top.

“Greek O [Olympics] is an event that we do every year during Homecoming week,” said Wilma Alvarado, president of Theta Phi Alpha. “It’s a fun time for both of the sororities and the fraternity and we all get to have fun and get noticed around campus.”

Greek Olympics is when both sororities, Theta Phi Alpha and Zeta Tau Omega, and the fraternity, Tau Kappa Epsilon, compete against one another in multiple events like pyramid, tug-o-war, a quad, a torch race, a gunny sack race, and a spirit cheer. There are three trophies and any organization can win.

“It gets all of Greek life involved as one single community to have a friendly competition together,” said Celeste Lopez, President of Zeta Tau Omega. “It’s like the Olympics but with easier stuff.”

The event started off with the sororities and fraternity cheering with their songs while waiting to enter the Willow Bowl. Once they entered, they all stood in their specific spots and waited for the events to begin.

The first event was the tug-o-war. The TKEs started off against one another. They usually have the alumnae going against their newest members, but alumnae would beat the new members.

“It’s great to have the alumnae come and participate,” said Keaton Harpham, the Tau Kappa Epsilon president. “A bunch of alumnae will come back and it’s great to just see everyone again.”

The Theta Phis and Zetas then faced off against one another in tug. Theta Phi Alpha pulled ahead and win the first round of tug-o-war.

The next event was the egg toss. Each organization sent four members up and tossed in pairs. Every time the egg was successfully tossed and caught without breaking or landing too far, the pair stepped further away from one another. Tau Kappa Epsilon were the last ones standing so they won the event.

The second round of tug began with the TKEs once again. However, this time the new member managed to beat their alumnae. Another round of tug-o-war took place for the fraternity with the alumnae beating the new members once again.

Tug for the sorority women started after. They switched sides after the first round and began. Theta Phi won again, meaning they won the event altogether.

With tug-o-war being over, the next event was the pyramid. Each organization went up and built a ten-person pyramid. After each pyramid is built, the member on top was to repeat their organization’s name three times while being stable. The fastest time won.

Tau Kappa Epsilon went first, followed by Theta Phi and finishing with Zeta Tau Omega. The Zetas won pyramid with around 12 seconds.

A torch race followed the pyramid. The torch race is a relay race with four runners from each organization running around the Willow Bowl and the fastest time wins. TKE started first, then Zeta Tau Omega and ended with Theta Phi Alpha.

Per tradition in Tau Kappa Epsilon, the new members ran the race and as the final member crossed the finish line, one of the alumnae tackled him. Theta Phi won the torch race with around 40 seconds.

A gunny sack race followed the torch race and it included four members of each organization. They are split with two members on two opposite sides. Each member hopped in a gunny sack to the other members and switched out. then hopping back until the last member passed the finish line. All three organizations did this event at the same time and the Zetas won this event.

There is a separate trophy for a series of events called the quad which took place after the gunny sack race. The first to finish won.

“The quad consists of egg on a spoon, then you do a puzzle, the you blow some bubblegum, and then you do a three-legged race,” Alvarado said.

The Zetas took the lead during the egg on a spoon and started their puzzle first with TKE following right after them. Zeta Tau finished their puzzle first as well while Theta Phi just finished their egg on a spoon.

Zeta Tau Omega started on the gum search while Theta Phi Alpha and Tau Kappa Epsilon were finishing their puzzles. Theta Phi finally finished and started on their gum while TKE was still on their puzzles.

Theta Phi Alpha blew their bubble before the Zetas and their three-legged race started and won the event for Theta Phi. Zeta Tau came in second and Tau Kappa Epsilon was last.

The score was tied up after the gunny sack race and caused Zeta Tau Omega and Theta Phi Alpha to compete in a wheelbarrow race to break the tie. Two members from each sorority participated in the race with the Zetas winning, therefore meaning they won the events part of Greek Olympics.

After all the physical events are done, the spirit cheer was the last event that happened. TKE went first, then Zeta Tau Omega and Theta Phi finished.

“The spirit cheer is a cheer that we make up the lyrics to but with already made up songs,” Lopez said. “It’s my favorite part because we spend every night practicing it and it’s so fun.”

For Tau Kappa Epsilon, this was their 50th anniversary so for their spirit cheer they sang “Happy Birthday” to their alumnae and their organization.

“We treated this like a normal Greek Olympics, but it was just a lot more special for us,” Harpham said.

Theta Phi Alpha won the spirit cheer, ending the events for Greek Olympics. Zeta Tau Omega won the Greek Olympics trophy (the trophy for the overall winner of Greek Olympics). Theta Phi won the spirit cheer trophy and the quad trophy.

“We were really happy that we had the chance to win the [Greek Olympics] trophy.” Lopez said.

Greek Olympics is an important event for the organizations where they all get to spend time in friendly competition while seeing their alumnae.

“I love being there with all my members and seeing all the new people while spending a couple hours together,” Alvarado said.