Teams have one last chance to compete, bring members together, before big race

This is the last weekend before Little 500, and the teams get one last chance to test their skills in preparation for the final race. The last series event, Team Pursuit, has teams squaring off against each other to snag the two fastest times. The two top times face off in the final round to determine the winners.\nTeam Pursuit, which will be held 2 p.m. today at Bill Armstrong Stadium, tests teams' strength and unity. Unlike Miss-N-Out and Individual Time Trials, Team Pursuit is based on team's performances, which will help riders prepare for race day.\n"Team Pursuit shows how well a team has done through the course of the year," IU Student Foundation assistant director and Little 500 coordinator Alex Ihnen said. "The teams that do the best in Team Pursuit are the teams that know each other the best. When a team does well they all trust each other and know what they need to do."\nThe event consists of two teams standing on opposite ends of the infield. When the race begins, riders sprint to their bikes on the track and take off. Each team rides together in a line, with one team member leading the team in the front position for a given amount of time. The mens team's compete for 15 laps and the women for 12 laps. \nAt Miss-N-Out, Kappa Kappa Gamma sent four riders to the semifinals and two to the finals including the eventual winner, rookie rider Kristin Carpenter, a senior. Junior captain Meg Haney said the team has been practicing for Team Pursuit since spring break.\n"We have been practicing quite a bit and we're looking really strong," Haney said. "We did a lot of work during spring break in practicing for Team Pursuit. We're hoping to win. We'd like to see ourselves in the finals."\nTeam Pursuit is the last event in the Little 500 series, meaning it gives teams a final chance before the actual race to see how they compete with the rest of the field. The seedings pit many of the top teams against one another. Kappa Kappa Gamma, who took the pole for the race, faces off against Kappa Alpha Theta, who qualified second at 6 p.m. In a match between two second row teams, Alpha Phi Omega races against Single Speed Sprinters at 6:36 p.m. \nHaney said the key to performing well at Team Pursuit is communication.\n"You need to have lots of communication to do perform well at Team Pursuit," Haney said. "You need to be talking with your team for the entire race. (The event) definitely shows which teams are strongest overall. There's a lot of teams with one or two good riders, but Team Pursuit shows teams can keep up at that intensity with three riders."\nIn the men's competition, the Cutters is always a strong contender during team events, Ihnen said. Last year Cutters outraced Sigma Phi Epsilon with a time of 9:44.20, nearly 16 seconds over Sig Ep's time of 10:00.75. This year Cutters placed 15th in qualifications, but is looking to have fun and prepare for the final race.\n"We have been training hard all year. Team Pursuit is just for fun, but it proves a team's pack riding skills," sophomore Cutters rookie Chris Vargo said. "We just want to go out there and ride our hardest. We really don't have any strategies, we just want to go out there and take it one lap at a time"