A tradition Returns

As the final sprint of the 1993 Little 500 began, Todd Hancock’s stomach was churning. All he had prepared for since 1991 came down to this: a quarter-mile push against one of the top riders in the field.

Earlier that day, one of his Delta Chi brothers had shown him and his teammates a shirt – one that declared Delta Chi the champion of the Little 500.

“It was certainly not in the bag,” Hancock said. “A lot of things could happen. So I was mortified by those T-shirts.”

Almost 200 people were wearing that shirt underneath their clothes as he neared the finish line. The race was tight, with Ben Sharp of Cinzano trailing close behind. He and Hancock were, at the time, the field’s strongest riders.

“That last lap was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever been involved in directly,” said 1993 Delta Chi coach Christian Long. “Everyone was on the edge of their seat.”

They came down the home stretch. It was close. Very close. But Hancock pulled off the victory for Delta Chi.

As clothes flew and the hysteria set in, Hancock said the moment didn’t really seem that profound. As the years went on, however, that perception changed.

“I’ve done a number of national championships,” said Hancock, who has raced in about 1,000 cycling events. “I’ve raced in Europe. I’ve raced in South America. With Little 500, all three races ... were the three most memorable and spectacular races I’ve ever done. It is a big deal.”

That win gave Delta Chi its eighth Little 500 championship, the most of any fraternity.

However, in 2002, the Delta Chi international headquarters voted to close the IU chapter after a rush suffered what a Dec. 5, 2002, Indiana Daily Student article called “head injuries acquired from blunt force trauma.” The chapter had been on Level 4 probationary status before the incident.

“We pretty much from a tactical point of view wrote off Indiana University as a Delta Chi home anymore,” Long said.

In March of this year, the IU chapter of Delta Chi rechartered, even going on to win IU Sing. Now, members have the opportunity to return to the glory they once had as a Little 500 contender.

Delta Chi Captain Scott Catanzaro, along with other members of the cycling team, qualified 29th for this year’s Little 500, rising from the ashes with little or no knowledge of the past of the once-storied program.

“We had no idea what Little Five was all about and that we were such a big team in the past,” Catanzaro said. “We kind of walked in the door not realizing it. Once we realized that it had that history behind it, all of the alumni and brothers had support to try and get us back where we used to be.”

Delta Chi alumni said they believe the new chapter is doing everything right, both on and off the track.

“Every single guy that is a part of this new chapter is a pioneer,” said Adam Mincer, a Delta Chi alum and graduate adviser from 1994 to 1997. “We couldn’t be prouder of them. It’s symbolic that Delta Chi is back. They’re building their tradition now.”

George Rambow, former rider and current president of the IU alumni board of trustees for Delta Chi, said he believes the new riders are some of the hardest trainers on the track – just as those who came before him were.

“Our mantra is that we ride when no one else rides,” Rambow said. “We train harder than anyone else trains. If it’s raining outside, we ride. If it’s snowing outside, as long as there’s no ice on the road, we ride. If it’s windy, we ride. If it’s hot, we ride. There wasn’t a day that I wasn’t outside except for the coldest, coldest days of the winter, and then we were on the trainers.”

Long said though the process will take time, the team has a chance to become a powerhouse program once again.

“If they just find one or two or three riders that are above average each year, they could be a top-five, top-15 team every year,” Long said. “From there, it’s just a matter of putting all of the pieces together.”

The members of Delta Chi have some big shoes to fill, to say the least.

“Because of our rich history in the race, there’s obviously some pressure on us to do well from the alumni,” Catanzaro said.

However, some see this as a blessing rather than a curse.

“They have the benefit of saying, ‘We’re part of that legacy,’” Long said. “These guys have the chance to build off of a tremendous history.”

Mincer said he has high expectations for the current brothers.

“I think we’re going to see more trophies,” he said.

Catanzaro has similar hopes.

“We want to be competitive year after year,” he said. “Two, three, four years from now, we want to have a program that’s competitive year in and year out, always in the last lap, always in the top five.

“Seeing where we’ve been in the past, it’s not out of the question to do that.”