Sounds of singing voices reverberated from Diddle Arena walls as alumni, friends and family celebrated the winners of the National Pan-Hellenic Council Step Show at about 11 p.m. Saturday.

Some steppers cried and others smiled, but all sang along to the hymns of the winning fraternity and sorority.

Last year’s champions Delta Sigma Theta sorority and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity won the competition, which some NPHC organizations prepare for months in advance.

Chick-fil-A wrappers, pearl jewelry and sweatpants dotted the community room at the Bowling Green Scholar House on Brownslock Road during one of the Deltas’ practices about three weeks ago.

Step shows can include dancing, singing or skits, according to the NPHC Web site.

“Make a solid sound when you hit,” said Louisville senior Arielle Holt, who led the choreography. “Your thighs should hurt.”

The women laughed at each others’ moves and mess-ups as they took turns repeating a new step in groups for Holt.

Holt told some of them that their moves looked sloppy.

“Y’all need to get in it,” she said, to get them to concentrate on the moves without freestyling. “You’ll get a chance to break it down.”

That same week, Hopkinsville junior Erick Coleman, an Alpha, interrupted his fraternity’s step show practice at Dance Arts of Bowling Green on Scottsville Road to pass out the Alphas’ new shoes for the show.

The men called out their sizes to Coleman as he scrambled trying to find the correct shoes.

They moved timidly in their shoes at first, but soon began to step with intensity — their faces holding sour expressions as they concentrated on the hard steps.

About three weeks later, the Alphas and the Deltas won trophies and money for their performances, said Chasity Rodgers, vice president of the NPHC at Western.

This year, six organizations competed in the show. Each had 15 minutes for their routines.

Competition judge Deanna Coles, a Zeta Phi Beta alumna, said the winners were chosen for the execution of their steps and their stage presence.

Holt said this is the third consecutive year the Deltas have won the step show.

She said they’ve been practicing since the summer.

They got ideas for their choreography from watching other schools and sister sororities, Holt said.

“We take those ideas and make it our own,” she said.

Holt said this win was significant to her chapter because the members will be graduating this school year.

“This means everything to us,” she said.

Nashville junior Marcus Steele, president of the Alphas, said his fraternity has been practicing since the summer, too.

The majority of the fraternity’s steppers are new to the chapter this year, and so were the group’s steps, he said.

Steele, who choreographed the routine, said he created the steps after watching some videos on YouTube.

Rodgers said stepping is a tradition that’s been passed down from generation to generation, and many of the steps are passed down year to year, too.

The first step show at Western was in 1969, she said.

Greek organizations have stepped for the unity and love of their organization since, Rodgers said.

Both step show winners agreed that the event is an important tradition.

“It’s another way to show off your passion, respect and pride in an organization,” Holt said.