Lip Sync lived up to the hype Saturday night as 14 teams performed skits in hopes of taking home the gold.

The doors opened at 5:30 p.m. at Stephens Auditorium as hundreds of greek members arrived to cheer on their friends and teammates. This is the first year all of the competitions took place on the same day, making for a long night. The competition kicked off at 6 p.m. with the “Quad Squad” and didn’t end until the final performance at 10:30 p.m..

“The day of the competition is my favorite,” said Alex Ritzman, sophomore in apparel, merchandising and design and a co-chair for Delta Delta Delta. “You get to see all your hard work come together.”

People streamed in and out throughout the evening as they waited to see what was in store this year.

“We got there at 5:30 [p.m.] to get seats and stayed until our team performed at 9:30 [p.m.],” said Emily Polinsky, sophomore in pre-business and member of Alpha Phi.

The time was filled with thrilling performances, creative costumes and phenomenal theatrics, and many activities and awards sprinkled throughout. A presentation about sexual assault awareness also took place.

The skits were centered around the Greek Week theme of Unity, Community and Opportunity. Each team displayed this in its own unique way. From making a skit based around the movie “Inside Out” to having a light show in the dance segment, all of the skits were original.

Lip Sync was the final competition at Greek Week, and Saturday was an event-filled day. All of the teams gathered at 11 a.m. for a LARPing competition and then moved from house to house for other events during the “Greek Olympics,” such as an egg toss competition and a bed race by the greek triangle.

“Saturday was super fun, and the free pizza was clutch,” Polinsky said.

Excitement was evident among Greek Week participants to find out who won Lip Sync and Greek Week, but teams had to wait until Sunday to find out the winners. 

“The goal of Greek Week is to unite the Greek Community under a common bond of fraternal friendship,” the Office of Greek Affairs website reads.

The website states that Greek Week has been a tradition at Iowa State for 63 years. This is a sentiment that seems to continue to stick with greek members.

“I think Greek Week is important because it’s a way to get involved and meet new people,” said Sarah Brangoccio, junior in elementary education and a co-chair for Pi Beta Phi. “It really makes you feel like you’re a part of the greek community.”

Vespers is an annual greek award ceremony that take place on Sunday after all of the Greek Week festivities. Greek members typically dress up in suits and dresses and gather at Stephens Auditorium to receive awards and reflect on the year as a whole.

One of the major accomplishments for the ISU greek community was its efforts in philanthropy. It raised more than $188,000 for the Special Olympics of Iowa last year, according to the Office of Greek Affairs website, and this year it beat that mark. The community raised more than $216,000 during Greek Week 2016, according to the Special Olympics of Iowa twitter page.

The Omicron Empire (Alpha Omicron Pi, FarmHouse, Kappa Sigma) won the competition, followed by Kappa Phi Delta Chi (Kappa Delta, Phi Delta Theta, Delta Chi) in second and the Olympians (Gamma Phi Beta, Phi Gamma Delta, Delta Sigma Phi, Gamma Rho Lambda) in third.

The overall Greek Week winners were USAPhi (Alpha Phi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, ACCACIA), followed by Omicron Empire in second and Quad Squad (Delta Delta Delta, Phi Kappa Psi, Triangle, Chi Phi) in third.