IU Homecoming off to a wild start

Dancing bananas, giant tricycles and the “Hoedown Throwdown.”

It’s what happened when IU students were given free reign and three minutes on stage at the annual Yell Like Hell homecoming spirit competition Thursday.

Students sat on the floor and packed into the Indiana Memorial Union Alumni Hall to witness members of 10 greek and student organizations compete in skit and dance categories, all relating to this year’s homecoming theme, “Wacky, Wild Crimson Style.” The event was put on by the IU Student Alumni Association.

Alpha Omicron Pi won the skit category, with IU Student Foundation taking second place. IU Essence and Hip Hop ConnXion tied for first in the dance competition, and the Irish Dance Team at IU was runner-up.

Raffles were presented throughout the night. IU a capella groups Ladies First and Straight No Chaser performed during intermissions.

“I thought it was awesome, especially IU Essence,” freshman Katelynn Koskie said. “I’ll definitely look them up on YouTube when I get home.”

Amanda Stahl, vice president of homecoming for IUSAA, said they have been planning homecoming and especially this event since August. She said this year they had the maximum number of acts participate, making it the biggest year she has seen.

“This event is basically just a great way for students to show spirit, to show excitement for homecoming,” Stahl said. “It’s just a great time to show ... their love of IU.”

Each act was judged on originality, use of homecoming theme, appearance and crowd response.

Judges included Eric Love from the Office of Diversity Education and Mattie White of IU Athletics. DJ Alex Starr from B97 emceed the event.

The winning teams received points for their organization toward the bigger competition taking place throughout homecoming week, and the winner will be announced at the football game Saturday.

Many participants enjoyed the atmosphere of the event despite it being a competition.

“It was kind of nerve-racking,” sophomore AOPi member Kim Sons said. “There were kind of a lot of people, but it felt great to be up there with all my friends and to dance in the ‘Hoedown Throwdown.’”