Sigma Pi returns 4 riders

Towards the end of qualifications, Sigma Pi was on pace to garner a solid staring position but senior rider Jason Mount fell going into the first turn of the final lap. The team tried to black flag the incident, but the officials would not allow it, and Sigma Pi finished 22nd in qualifications and will start in the eighth row. \nNot all of the news has been unfortunate for the riders of Sigma Pi. The riders performed well in the men's series events that lead up to the Little 500: Individual Time Trials (ITT), Miss-N-Out and the Team Pursuit. Mount finished fifth in the ITT with a 2:26.75 and junior John Camacho finished 14th in the ITT with a 2:29.31. The team also executed well in the Miss-N-Out event. Camacho placed fifth, Mount reached the semi-finals and senior Jeff Wright reached the quarterfinals in the event. In the third and final series event, the Team Pursuit, the team finished 12th. Sigma Pi finished eighth in the men's series events final standings with 142 total points. \nBesides the series events, Sigma Pi's riders also performed well in the Fastest Lap. Mount won the Fastest Lap event with a time of 33.395 seconds and Wright placed seventh in his heat. Mount said he believes that while their performance in the series events is important, the only event that matters is the Little 500.\n"The race itself is the real measure of preparation both mentally and physically," Mount said. "The [series events] help, but again race day is where everything comes into play. We know our performance capabilities, and we aim to have everything fall in place on race day."\nThe team returns all of the riders from last year's squad that placed 10th, and the team knows that having experienced riders will only benefit the team come the weekend of April 26th.\n"Experience is huge in Little 500, the race is pretty chaotic, and knowing how to react to certain situations is a huge bonus," Mount said.\nSigma Pi has chosen Camacho as the team captain because according to Mount, he is well-organized and a total pit-board artist. Camacho sees riding in the Little 500 and being named captain as a privilege\n"To me riding Little 500 is achieving a dream," Camacho said. \nThe team's goal this year is to better last year's finish, and Mount said he believes that with their strategy and riders, Sigma Pi will be in contention for the Little 500 title.\n"We think we'll have a strong performance on race day, it is hard to predict where we will finish, but we hope to finish among the top tier," Mount said. "We need to avoid mishaps, mechanicals, and stay on the lead lap"