New rider enjoys first race

Sophomore Drew Marsch had some pressure on his shoulders before the 51st men's Little 500 race. His team, Delta Sigma Pi, was the last team to qualify, and two riders, senior John Gurchiek and junior Chris Dobecki, had injuries. \nAlthough there was no fairy tale ending Saturday, Delta Sigma Pi finished 28th and managed to avoid serious accidents and penalties. For Marsch, a rookie, the experience was filled with hard work, but also a "once-in-a-lifetime experience."\n"I am so glad that I did it," Marsch said. "It's something to be proud of. It was definitely worth all the effort, and I am glad I was part of it."\nAt first, Marsch wasn't supposed to ride with Delta Sigma Pi, but then the team started losing it's members. Marsch was approached to join the team in the fall, and after a little deliberation, he decided to ride.\n"I knew he was athletic, so when they asked him, I wasn't surprised," said sophomore Mike Waldsmith, Marsch's roommate. "He likes to do new things."\nBut when training began in the fall, it was more than Marsch had expected. His training included Cycle Fit classes at the Student Recreational Sports Center, lifting weights and riding stationary bikes.\nMarsch plays a range of sports including basketball and soccer, but this was his first experience with riding.\n"I was in shape for a normal person, but it takes a lot more than that to ride," Marsch said. "There were riders that were in incredible shape, and the amount of work you put in is unbelievable. I didn't realize the amount of work you put into it."\nThe team experienced its ups and downs preceding the race. Gurchiek hurt his ankle, which meant the team had to use a different kind of exchange when he entered the race. Dobecki was riding with an injured rib. \nThe only experienced rider on the team was senior Alan Ireland, a member of the Riders Committee. For a while, the only definite riders were Ireland and Marsch, and the others were undecided.\n"Alan helped me a great deal," Marsch said. "The hardest thing was learning to pack ride. Getting used to pack riding takes a whole because you can get stuck and it's a lot of people riding really close together. Exchanges came pretty easy to me."\nThe team was settled by qualifications, but the question of whether they would qualify wasn't.\nDelta Sigma Pi fouled on its first two qualification attempts because of missed exchanges. It was forced into a third and final qualification try. \nMarsch and his teammates took it easier on the third attempt -- ensuring a problem-free run -- but came out with a slower time.\n"The drama of quals was that one more team had to ride," Marsch said. "It was the Region Crew, and one of their riders was in our business fraternity. If they had gotten a faster time than us, we would have been knocked out. It's finishing last, but we still beat some teams. We're just glad we're in the race, because we worked really hard for it."\nMarsch continued training after qualifications and describes his feelings toward the race in the weeks preceding the event as "relaxed" and "not too nervous."\nBut whatever nervous feelings he hadn't experienced hit him the night before the 2 p.m. race.\n"He had butterflies," Ireland said. "We had dinner and then we were watching (the movie) 'Breaking Away,' and all of a sudden, his eyes got really big, and he got really nervous."\nThe nerves Marsch carried into the race were not quelled early because of the series of accidents that plagued the early portion of the race. One minor wreck included Ireland, but Marsch managed to escape the frays.\nBecause of the injuries to his two teammates, it was Marsch and Ireland that rode the majority of the laps.\n"I just went out there and did not think about what I was doing or how many laps I was riding," Marsch said. "I just wanted to do as many laps as I could to finish the race."\nFor Marsch, who Ireland described as the "MVP" of the team, the months of practice and the race was an experience like no other. Although the day did not result in an upset for his team, Marsch said he was happy with the day anyway.\n"I'm not sure yet if I am going to ride or not (next year)," Marsch said. "I am definitely going to help out the team somehow, but I don't know if I am going to or not. (Saturday) went pretty good, so I am just happy with that right now"