Series events:2 down, 1 to go

Four rounds and more than 50 heats after it started, only two riders remained at Miss-N-Out. Phi Delta Theta senior Matt Marketti and Kappa Kappa Gamma junior Kristin Carpenter reigned as the men's and women's champions in 2002. \n"I think the performances showed that the field is really even," IU Student Foundation assistant director and Little 500 coordinator Alex Ihnen said. "It's always a little unpredictable, but there were a lot of very good riders that went out in the quarterfinal rounds. There were 40 guys that could've been in the finals, and there's only room for six. They were very impressive today."\nThe men and women each raced two semifinal heats, with the three remaining finishers in each advancing to the six-person finals. For the men, Corleones senior Luke Isenbarger, Phi Gamma Delta sophomore Matt Davis, Gafombi senior John Grant, Marketti, Sigma Phi Epsilon senior Mark Downing and Phi Delta Theta senior Ryan Hamilton made it to the finals. \nThe riders remained in a close pack for much of the race. Grant was eliminated first, followed by Hamilton, Davis and Downing respectively. That left the top two time-trial finishers vying for the win -- Isenbarger, a rookie, and Marketti, a veteran rider who crossed the finish line for Phi Delts in their Little 500 win last year.\nFollowing a pace lap, Marketti came out sprinting, building a small lead on Isenbarger that he never gave up, despite a mid-lap surge by Isenbarger that fell short. \n"It was a great event," Marketti said. "The strategy was to work hard. You have to find out the place where you feel comfortable starting to sprint. This gave us a chance to work out a lot of the kinks in our racing, and it gave everyone a good chance to practice."\nFor the women, Gamma Phi Beta and Kappa Kappa Gamma each sent two riders to the final. Seniors Deirdre Finzer, an IDS employee, and Elizabeth Gilbert raced for Gamma Phi Beta, while Carpenter and sophomore Alison Edwards competed for Kappa Kappa Gamma. Phi Mu senior rider Analisa Dziedziejko, and Kappa Alpha Theta senior rider Jeanne Foote rounded out the field. \nGilbert was the first to go, followed by Dziedziejko at the end of the next lap. The remaining four riders stayed close, never falling behind by more than a couple bike lengths. Foote was next eliminated, followed by Edwards, leaving Finzer, last year's Miss-N-Out champion, and Carpenter, a rookie. In the final lap, Carpenter built a small lead over Finzer and kept it to the finish.\n"I'm really satisfied, not just for myself, but for my whole team," Carpenter said. "We did really wonderful today, and we're really excited about it. I think I just have satisfaction for the work I've put in since December. I had a lot of support from my teammates, and both of my coaches were here. They had a lot of faith in me, and that helped push me through."\nCarpenter said while she had hoped to win, she was surprised to find herself in the finals. Once she made the final lap, she knew just what to do. \n"I was just thinking it was the last lap and you've got to give it all you've got," Carpenter said. "If you cross the finish line with stuff left in your legs, then you probably didn't go hard enough."\nThere were several small crashes during the course of the competition, most of which left the riders involved unscathed. But, during the 45th heat, Kappa Delta sophomore Jen Gaker crashed. She hit the ground hard and immediately crawled to the infield grass, where she lay until an ambulance arrived. Gaker spent the day at the hospital and received 10 stitches in her chin but is fine otherwise and will continue to race, teammate Kim Gerbers said. \nThe Little 500 series concludes with Team Pursuit this Friday at 2 p.m. at Bill Armstrong Stadium.\n"We are all really looking forward to it because it's the last series event," Marketti said. "It's really exciting competition and a good build-up for the race"