Every single event leading up to Little 500 has been plagued with overcast skies and rain, and Miss N Out was no different.
Qualifications, Individual Time Trials and Miss N Out saw rain, hail and snow all within the three events. The weather leading up to Little 500 has been so poor, it wouldn't be a surprise if the big race followed the trend.
With the weather being gloomy, performances of the riders are also expected to be at a lower level, but that hasn’t been the case with the Spring Series.
ITTs on Wednesday night saw record-breaking runs that previously stood for almost 10 years. While Miss N Out didn’t see any broken records, the wind definitely played a factor in the times and track.
Riders were excited about the windless night at ITTs, but it was the exact opposite Saturday afternoon. The wind and weather affected Sigma Chi rider Sam Beck’s equipment.
“My bike was a little bit messed up,” Beck said. “The wheel wouldn’t turn with the hub so it wasn’t able to spin as quickly.”
That wind factor didn’t seem to affect the top six riders in the finals. Ultimately, Charlie Hicks of Sigma Phi Epsilon took home the win after advancing three rounds to make the finals.
Hicks was joined in the finals by his teammate and fraternity brother, Tom Settle, who finished in fourth place.
Coming up just behind Hicks in second was Noble Guyon of Cutters and Gray Goat’s Samuel Stratton, who rounded out the top three. Joseph Krahulik of Sigma Alpha Epsilon placed fifth and Xavier Martinez represented the Black Key Bulls in sixth.
On the women’s side, Rachel Brown of Kappa Alpha Theta continued to impress with a first-place finish in Miss N Out.
Wednesday night, Brown was just behind Brooke Hannon of Melanzana, both breaking Kristi Hewitt’s record time of 2:34.00 from 2009 with times of 2:33.637 and 2:33.083, respectively.
Hannon also made it to the finals of Miss N Out and placed third out of six.
One of the riders to miss out on the finals was Daniella Pierini of Sigma Kappa, who qualified for the quarterfinals but failed to make it any further.
Pierini’s thrill didn’t last long, as she was eliminated in the quarterfinals and failed to reach the semifinals.
All of the riders will have another chance to improve their place in Spring Series next weekend at Team Pursuit Saturday afternoon. Next weekend will be the last event in Spring Series as the teams will all rest up before Little 500 on April 20 and 21.
The original version of this article implied Rachel Brown and Brooke Hannon competed in separate heats in ITTs. The IDS regrets this error.
