The Little 5 criterium race took place on April 18, 2026, with Alpha Phi’s Elle Lewis ‘26 and Sigma Chi’s Johnny Marshall ‘27 each bringing victory back to their Greek-letter organizations.
Lewis, who was last year’s reigning criterium race champion, finished with an official time of 56:08 and a dominating 43.44-second gap ahead of second place. Even as the gap between the riders kept on getting wider, Lewis was compelled to end on a high note and said, “I just wanted to finish strong, putting one pedal in front of the other. The finish line is where I finish.” She was first introduced to biking by her father, who also biked for Indiana University’s Little 500, and he encouraged her to compete during her freshman year. “I kind of fell in love with it [biking],” she said. “Now, it’s a fun thing that I get to do with my friends and family.” Lewis’s younger sister, Libby, also competes for Indiana University’s Little 500 on behalf of its Alpha Chi Omega sorority.
Marshall is not new to the Little 5 criterium race either, having competed since his first year at DePauw. Officially, his time recorded was 48:30 and a closer 4.04-second gap behind second place. As a member of the swim team, Marshall was eager to partake in the race since it gives him something to do during the offseason. “I’m also training for triathlons right now, so it’s really just part of my training. It’s good for you so it keeps me in shape, burns a lot of calories and I just have a lot of fun riding outside,” he said. To prepare for the race, Marshall sought not to make the race too personal, saying, “I said a quick prayer and knew that I’m doing it for fun, and it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day.” John Marshall, Johnny’s father, also competed in Little 5 as part of the Alumni criterium race earlier in the day.
Little 5 is, of course, not only about racing. Throughout the week, Greek-letter fraternities and sororities compete to raise money for charity. Overall, $23,896 was raised for the United Way of Central Indiana for youth literacy in Putnam County. As another thrilling Little 5 was added to the books, students were given one last DePauw event to enjoy before returning to their own race against the clock as the semester comes to a close and finals week looms ahead.
