Derby Days and Grand Prix End Semester on a High Note

As the countdown to the end of the school year is underway, the Sigs hosted two of their bigger events – Derby Days and Grand Prix.  Both events did exceptionally well with the concerted effort of the brothers with the backing of several alumni and parents.

Derby Days Champions Zeta Tau Alpha with Sig captains (L-R) Brett Odgers ’28, Brady Cavanaugh ’28, and Ryder Hutton ’29.

Derby Days 2026

Derby Days was a great success thanks to all the brothers who were engaged and helped make it a wonderful week. While Derby Day’s main focus is raising money for cancer research, it is also about having fun and building community. We had 10 sororities compete this year, helping us raise over $27,000 for the Huntsman Cancer Research Foundation.

The chapter introduced a few new events that generated some great results. One of these was a call-a-thon where the sororities were given 30 minutes to raise as much money as possible. With calls to Sig alums, parents and friends, the women raised over $9,000. We also introduced Derby Darlings, where one member from each sorority is selected to represent their chapter during Derby Days. The winning team’s Derby Darling is then named the overall Derby Darling for the year’s Derby Days.

We kicked off the week on Monday with dodgeball, with Kappa Delta winning. On Tuesday, we held an inflatable obstacle course relay, with Kappa Kappa Gamma taking first place. On Wednesday, Alpha Phi won tug of war, and on Thursday, we wrapped up with a talent show, where Kappa Kappa Gamma won again. Ultimately, Zeta Tau Alpha, led by coaches Brady Cavanaugh, Brett Odgers, and Ryder Hutton, took home the overall title this year. Kappa Kappa Gamma, coached by Liam Lawson, Jack Steadham, and Matthew Marrano, finished a close second. Thank you to all the Sig families, alumni, and sororities who supported this year’s Derby Days.

Celebrating the Sigs highest finish since 2016 … Austin Brooks ’28, Sawyer Grimes ’29, Alex Dibble ’29, Heemir Patel ’27, Ian Brady ’28, Eric Boyd ’27, Noah Macias ’29, Erik Raume ’25, Alex An ’29, Robbie Burt ’29, Saif Zagha ’29, and Patrick McPherson ’28

Grand Prix 2026 – Sigs Take 4^th Place

What an unforgettable season for Sigma Chi Racing in the 69th Purdue Grand Prix. This year, we officially qualified for the race for the first time since 2023 and earned our first placement since 2016. (In the past couple of years the Sigs have competed in the race but had to qualify by doing well in the sprint race.) Kart #68, driven by Ian Brady ‘28, started 25th and fought all the way to a 4th-place finish, moving up 21 spots and tying for the Most Overtakes Award. Sigma Chi was the highest finishing fraternity kart.

Under Crew Chiefs Heemir Patel ‘27 and Eric Boyd ‘27, we also ran Kart #9 as a rookie development kart, giving newer members hands-on experience and helping build the future of our program. Alex Dibble ‘29 drove Kart #9 in the sprint races, moving from 14th to 9th while competing to qualify for the main race. Thank you to our alumni, sponsors, and everyone who supported us throughout the season. We are proud of how far Sigma Chi Racing has come this past year and excited to keep building momentum into the 3rd Annual Halloween Hundred. The Halloween Hundred is another go-cart race scheduled for the fall at Purdue.