It takes a lot to Yell Like Hell.

Teams prepare chants and choreography months in advance to prepare for the annual competition, which is a major part of Homecoming. The Peanuts Gang, a team of members of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, 228 Gray Ave., Sigma Kappa Sorority, 233 Gray Ave., and Theta Xi Fraternity, 315 Welch Ave., spent months preparing chants and moves for a skit.

Britt Murphy, senior in apparel merchandising, design and production and member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, was the coach for the Peanuts Gang. The theme for the skit is the theme for Homecoming, Murphy said. The theme this year is “Catch the Craze.” Practice began on Sept. 8. The team made it through first cuts on Oct. 6, but got cut in the second round Wednesday. The top three teams get the opportunity to perform at Friday’s pep-rally. The first place team picks up an enormous amount of points for Homecoming, Murphy said.

Murphy said he and the other chairs had to “completely write the entire skit before practices started.” “This is a change from last year, when the skits were written after practices began” Murphy said. Murphy said that the first week was dedicated to learning the words to the fight song and to practice yelling. During week two, they got more serious and learned the first chant of the skit Murphy said. At this point, he said, “more personality is incorporated into the skit and choreography.” The third week, a second chant was added. “More emphasis is being placed on the rules of Yell-Like-Hell and the necessity of being at practice on time,” Murphy said.

The fourth week was dedicated to learning how the dialog flows with the skit and characters are chosen, Murphy said. During the fifth week, the team learned the third and hardest chant of the skit. “Timing becomes an issue, the skit must be under 5 minutes,” Murphy said. The sixth week was used to brush up on choreography, emphasize yelling and personality during the skit, rule learning and timing Murphy said. “Our practices are so intense right now because we only have like seven or eight left,” Murphy said. Murphy said practices are very serious and the coaches work to excite and pump-up the Yell-Like-Hellers. “For the most part we tell them, ‘It’s up to you how long we’re gonna be here,'” he said. “It’s in their hands because if practice runs smoothly we let them go early and if not they stay longer.” Right before first cuts, the coaches got the team together to watch a videotape of practice so the team had the chance to see how they look live.

Scott Roti, freshman in pre-business and a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon, said he enjoyed participating in Yell-Like-Hell. “Our team is doing really well, our dance moves are getting tough and slowly I’m getting them down,” Roti said.

He said the Peanuts Gang coaches are a great asset to the team. “We have really energetic coaches that push us a lot to get our enthusiasm up,” Roti said. But Yell-Like-Hell is not all fun and games. “The dance moves are tough, getting your arms and legs to coordinate together,” Roti said.

Roti said that while Yell-Like-Hell is hard work, the benefits far out way the negatives. “It takes up a lot of your time, but you grow a lot,” he said. “I’ve gotten

to know the guys in my house so much better through Yell-Like-Hell.” Roti said that the motivation of the team comes from the older members. “A lot if it is the older guys in the house — they really motivate the team,” Roti said. The rest of the enthusiasm, Roti said, comes from being part of Iowa State.

Murphy said the Peanuts Gang was ready going in to the competition. “I felt fairly confident, we saw two other teams go on before hand and I felt very confident,” Murphy said. “There are a few that are very strong but I felt fairly strong that we’d make it past first rounds.” Roti had mixed emotions going into the competition.

“Going in I felt pretty confident because all of the guys in my house were talking about how good we are, yet I was nervous because I didn’t really know what to expect,” he said. Roti said he was impressed by the performance of the Peanuts Gang on Sunday. “I thought Sunday was by far one of the best times we’ve done it, it was so cool to see all the guys in my house step up and Yell-Like-Hell,” Roti said. Roti said that the leadership at first-cuts was amazing. “The older guys were trying to get us all pumped up and motivated and wanted us to get in and win and thought we had a pretty good chance,” he said.