Practice pays off in trials

Phi Delta Theta senior Josh Beatty beat three friends to win the most anticipated heat of the 2001 Little 500 men's individual time trials. He also beat everybody else.\nBeatty won Wednesday's individual time trials at Bill Armstrong Stadium with a time of 2:29.87. Beatty's heat, which was contested at 7:20 p.m., featured four of the event's top riders.\nRacing at the same time were Phi Gamma Delta senior Todd Cornelius, Sigma Alpha Epsilon junior Dan Burns and Delta Chi senior Jason Sonneborn. It was the only heat where each rider recorded a time under 2:40. \n"It was really fun riding with all those guys," Beatty said. "During the practice races, we push each other and have fun with it." \nCornelius finished second with a 2:30.56. Burns finished in fourth with a 2:33.06 and Sonneborn finished 10th, posting a 2:36.88. Finishing third between Cornelius and Burns was Acacia senior Kevin Vanes, who posted a 2:33.0 in the 7:45 p.m. heat. \nBeatty said he didn't think he won when he completed his four laps.\n"Dan Burns was ahead of me the entire time, and I thought he beat me," Beatty said. "I was pleasantly surprised."\nBeatty started in the third turn and had a clear view of Burns during the entire race. Burns raced from the fourth turn, while Cornelius and Sonneborn raced from the first and second, respectively.\n"I should have gone faster the first two laps. I feel like I was watching the other riders," Burns said. "I made up time on the last two laps."\nRacing against one another is nothing new for Beatty, Burns, Sonneborn and Cornelius. Each rider raced for teams that placed in the top five of last year's Little 500. Each rider also finished in the top 14 at last year's individual time trials. \n"When you ride in a heat like this with three buddies, it's something to get pumped about," Cornelius said. "You get nervous, but it's part of it and adds to the fun."\nThis is the fourth year Beatty has competed in the series events. Last year, Beatty placed seventh it the time trials with a time of 2:29.22. \n"He's a really good rider," Cornelius said of Beatty. "His performance didn't surprise me."\nChi Phi senior John Emmetsberger was the highest returning rider from last year's ITT, and finished sixth with a time of 2:35.14. Emmetsberger's time was almost nine seconds behind the 2:26.63 he posted last year, when he finished in third place.