The springtime tradition of Greekend kicked off last Thursday, Apr. 14, complete with food, fun and football. Members of Whitman Greek groups played a series of flag football games in pursuit of the prestigious title of Greekend champion.
Kappa Kappa Gamma went undefeated to win the sorority tournament, avenging last year’s last-place finish, while Tau Kappa Epsilon took home the glory among the fraternities by defeating Phi Delta Theta 14-7 on Sunday.
In the first game of the tournament, Kappa Kappa Gamma defeated Kappa Alpha Theta 19-7. Kappa kept things rolling in Sunday’s de facto championship game as they defeated defending champion Delta Gamma 13-7 to earn the title of Greekend Champions.
For senior Kappa captain Rachel Constantino-Wallace, the victory was especially meaningful in her last year playing Greekend football.
“It was great to win, especially coming off the two losses last year,” said Constantino-Wallace.
The early loss proved to motivate the Theta team as they upset defending champion Delta Gamma 13-7 late Saturday in the game of the weekend.
DG led 7-0 for most of the game until the Thetas scored 13 unanswered points in the final minutes to steal the victory from the shocked DGs.
Sophomore Lea Gariando began the Theta comeback with under two minutes left in the game when she picked off DG quarterback Lauren Parsons’s pass and returned the ball 50 yards for a tying touchdown. Theta’s defense held the DGs scoreless on their next possession and got the ball back with just over a minute left. Then the fireworks started.
With 10 seconds left in the game and the ball on the DG 25-yard line, the Thetas completed a perfectly executed half back pass as senior quarterback Emily Ufheil-Somers dished the ball to fellow senior Julia Russell, who connected with sophomore Emily Coba in the end zone for the go-ahead score.
DG did not go away quietly, down to their last play. Parsons’s Hail Mary pass found the hands of senior Hilary White; however, Coba saved the day for the Thetas as she pulled White’s flag just shy of the end zone.
“We were all shocked about the win. Goes to show how much respect people have for the DGs,” said senior James Bevan-Lee, Theta’s coach. “There’s no denying their athletic ability.”
Theta’s victory over DG was particularly impressive considering they did not field a team during the fall football season, while the DG team advanced all the way to the semi-finals. Theta’s Greekend team featured a combination of players who played for section teams in the fall. While one predominately Theta team, F-YeAh!, advanced all the way to the intramural championship game, the Thetas still faced the challenge of putting together a Greekend team in only three weeks.
“I think the Thetas are a good mixture of players. There are a lot of girls who play [for different teams in the fall]; having them all come together in one team was great,” said Bevan-Lee.
Bevan-Lee credited the Thetas’ work ethic: they practiced at least three times a week for the three weeks leading up to Greekend: as the main catalyst for their victory.
In the fraternity division, Phi and TKE advanced to Sunday’s championship game thanks to forfeit victories over Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi, respectively.
“It was a bit of a let-down that Beta and the Sigs didn’t field a team,” said senior TKE Graham Brewer. “It was disappointing to only play one game.”
As the defending Greekend and Intermural champions, TKE entered the game with big expectations.
“Because we fielded the same team as [when we won] last year, we knew we would win,” said Brewer. “We definitely expected to win.”
The TKEs lived up to their expectations early. They kicked off the scoring on their second drive as senior Christopher “TC” Tobin-Campbell caught a short slant and outran the Phi defense, giving TKE an early 7-0 lead. TKE expanded their lead to 14-0 when sophomore Gene Kim fooled the Phi defense with a center sneak midway through the first half.
The Phis got on the board in the closing minutes of the first half as senior quarterback Ben Kron hit fellow senior Jonny Tat at the goal line for a touchdown to narrow the TKEs’ lead to 14-7 at half-time. This proved to be the final margin as the game turned into a defensive battle of attrition in the second half.
No team really threatened the end zone until the Phis almost scored on their last offensive play of the game as Kron hooked up with Tat on another long pass; however, referee junior Chris Barton called Kron down right before he released the pass, negating the resulting touchdown and securing the win for TKE.
