Kappa breaks quals track record 1 hour and 45 mins. after AGD breaks record

Within an hour and 45 minutes, a 15-year-old record was broken -- twice.\nWhen the cinder cleared and the Mongooses stopped rolling, Kappa Kappa Gamma ended qualifications holding not only the pole position for the 2004 Women's Little 500 race, but the new qualifications track record with a time of 2:37.5, breaking a newly-minted record.\nLess than two hours before Kappa set its mark in the books, Alpha Gamma Delta broke Kappa Alpha Theta's 1989 record of 2:40.1 with a time of 2:38.3 -- 1.7 seconds faster.\nKappa's finish was 2.6 seconds faster than Theta's old record and and .8 seconds faster than AGD's. \n"It was neat," Kappa senior Alison Edwards said of breaking the record. "It was a pretty cool experience. We never thought that was going to happen, but it was a nice surprise."\nThe front row of this year's race features three of the elite teams in the women's field. With Kappa sitting on the pole and AGD following them in second, defending champions Kappa Alpha Theta rounded out the front row in third with a qualifying time of 2:42.9.\nTeter Women had a strong showing, finishing fourth in 2:43.7, just ahead of Delta Zeta -- 2:45.4 and Roadrunners -- 2:46.1, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively, to complete the second row. \nMother Nature played games all morning, showing all her faces, which had an impact on quals.\nThe rain Friday night and light drizzle Saturday morning caused the track to harden, which allowed for the riders to move faster over the cinder track.\n"The track conditions were really good on Saturday," Team Athena senior Anna Schwartz said. "The track was solid and real packed down and held together really nicely."\nThe lack of sun made for ideal weather conditions, AGD senior Corey Bitzer said.\n"It wasn't sunny. There was no wind. It was not cold. It was the ideal conditions," she said. \nSchwartz said the deep field and experience of the riders added to the fast times. But, Edwards said, it is not only the field, but women in general, that are the cause of the lower times.\n"Women in general are getting faster," she said. "They are learning how to push their bodies to the limit"\nAll 32 teams that attempted to qualify made the field, which can hold a maximum of 33. This year's field has the most teams since 1999, when the same number of teams qualified for the race.\nEven though many riders say qualifications is not a good prediction of the race because it is only a sprinting event, Kappa and AGD established themselves as two of the fastest teams in the field. AGD had three of the four fastest laps during qualifications, with defending Individual Time Trial champion Bitzer leading the way riding the fastest lap of the day in 36 seconds -- even followed by Kappa junior Meredith Horner, who ran her lap in 36.64 seconds. Bitzer's teammate, senior Kimberly Trocio, clocked the fastest second lap in 41 seconds even, again followed by a Kappa rider. Junior Kelsey Cooper followed Trocio in second place on the second lap with a 41.365 lap.\nOnce again on the third lap, it was AGD-Kappa in a one-two order for fastest times. AGD senior Viki Hunziker rode a 40 second third lap, a half-second behind Kappa senior Alison Edwards. \nHowever, in the fourth lap, Kappa secured the fastest time when senior Jessica Groth clocked a 38.958 lap to secure the pole position and the track record.\nBitzer, who rode laps one and four for AGD, said it was tough riding two laps.\n"It was a lot different than I expected," she said. "My legs felt a little more tight than in practice."\nFive new teams qualified for this year's race, headlined by Bella Veloce, which qualified 15th -- the best placing of the new teams.\n"Being a new team, nobody knows what to expect from us," Bella Veloce junior Jamie Baldwin said. "But we know what to expect of ourselves and each other. We just really respect all of the other teams, and it is an honor to compete against such amazing athletes."\nBut for now, Kappa is on top, not only of the pack, but in the record books. But they won't let that go to their heads.\n"We're not letting this make us feel complacent," she said. "We're still working very hard. The big picture is the race."\n-- Contact sports editor Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.