Senior leaves his mark on team

Matt Marketti has ridden in two Little 500s, has a championship ring from last year and is described by his teammates as modest.\nBut don't even think the Phi Delta Theta senior is getting on a bike without looking spectacular in his riding gear.\n"He used to wear the ugliest jerseys," teammate Brian Drummy said. "But now he wouldn't be caught dead going for a ride without the perfect bike clothes on."\nPerfect clothes or not, Marketti has had strong performances in the Little 500, and when the finance major takes the track Saturday, his presence will be felt.\nMarketti's team enters the race in the pole position after the team qualified in 2:23.906. During the first of the three series events leading up to the race, the Individual Time Trials, Marketti finished second behind Luke Isenbarger of the Corleones, with a time of 2.25.42. His score was .42 seconds shy of Isenbarger.\n"We don't usually look at (the individual events) too seriously," Marketti said. "Those are just for fun. If we do good we're happy; if we don't we don't worry about it."\nBut Marketti doesn't usually find himself out of the top positions.\nAfter the ITT's, Marketti won the Miss-N-Out series event. And with the time and work Marketti and his teammates put into the event, it's not surprising that he's consistently a top finisher.\nThe training begins for Marketti in the summer and continues into the school year. The coaches for the team came up with a training program that is based on a day-by-day schedule. In addition to that rigorous training regimen, the team heads to New Port Richie, Fla., twice before the race -- once during winter break and once during spring break.\nBut this veteran rider doesn't just put pressure on himself to train hard. He also puts pressure on himself to be a leader for the team.\n"It's kind of fallen on me to take over the team," Marketti said. "I just want to make sure everyone stays together as one cohesive unit and that everyone reaches the ultimate goal."\nMarketti has assumed the position of leader on a team that consists of four seniors, two juniors and a sophomore. He takes his leadership example from former teammate Josh Beatty, who was considered the leader of the team last year.\nWhile Marketti strives to be the leader that Beatty, who he describes as an inspirational person, was, the situations are a little different.\n"He's done a good job as leading, but he hasn't had to make as much of an impact as Beatty did," teammate Ryan Hamilton said. "There were two rookies on the team last year, and this year there are three of us with a championship ring, so that brings a good deal of experience. But our team has confidence in him, and that is a huge impact on the team."\nLast year it was only Marketti and Beatty who had experience in the race, and yet the Phi Delt team was able to improve it's fourth-place starting position and win the entire race.\nBut with three seasoned riders, Marketti and his team hope to add another ring to their collection.\n"I would love to repeat," Marketti said. "I want to also have fun and leave the team better than it was when I got there"