Rain dampens teams' hopes

The Corleones and Kappa Kappa Gamma won the 2002 Little 500 series without even setting foot on the track for the final event.\nTeam Pursuit, the last part of the series, was scheduled for Friday but never got off the ground. After trying to get the race started in the rain, lightning in the area forced a delay. At 5 p.m., the storms hadn't subsided, and the event was called off. No rain day was set, so the event won't be made up.\n"With lightning, we can't run the event. It was a simple decision," IU Student Foundation assistant director and Little 500 coordinator Alex Ihnen said. "It's unfortunate not to have it for the riders. They look forward to it. It's an important part of the Little 500 season, but the focus is on the race itself. We're glad it came this Friday and not next Friday, hopefully."\nIhnen said the cancellation won't have any negative effects on teams that had been scheduled to participate.\n"(It will have) no impact whatsoever," he said. "No one uses it to prepare for the race. Teams prepare for team pursuit and then the race. It's just a fun, extra series event." \nThe Corleones were excited about their first-place finish but disappointed that Team Pursuit was canceled. Junior Clint Seal said the team was shooting to be in contention for first place but thought the next event would provide competition for the spot.\n"We were looking forward to Team Pursuit, but it's no big deal," Seal said. "Everyone shoots to be in the top contention for first."\nTeam Pursuit was a chance for teams to see how they measure up against the competition before the actual race next weekend. \nGamma Phi Beta senior Liz Gilbert said her team would try to make up for the cancellation with comparable practice. \n"We were very disappointed not to compete," Gilbert said. "It was a strong event for us, and we were really looking forward to it."\nDelta Delta Delta captain Kristine Ward said missing Team Pursuit would be inconvenient but not a major setback for the teams' preparations.\n"We were supposed to go at 4 -- we just decided not to stick around when it started to pour," Ward said. "I would have liked to have seen how we would have done because this would have been one of the stronger series events for us. But it's not that big of a deal. We've been training for the race, so that's where our focus is"