Eye of the rider

In 1988, the women of IU were finally granted permission to have their own Little 500. After a team of girls from Kappa Alpha Theta tried to participate in the men's race, a women's division was formed, and 31 teams instantly joined.\nIn 1988, the women's race had no hype, no superstars, no history. They have had to fight from the shadow of the men's race and establish a reputation of their own.\nSixteen years later, the women's time has come.\nRecords have been set at every single event thus far this year, leaving the race itself as the only event remaining without 2004 written next to it in the record book.\nThe top two qualifying teams, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Alpha Gamma Delta, each broke the previous best time rather easily. Senior Bri Kovac of Teter surpassed Lindsay Hawkins' 1998 time of 2 minutes and 36.04 seconds in the Individual Time Trials, and the Teter team set the Team Pursuit record twice. They broke it once in qualifying, and then proceeded to beat that number in the finals.\n"All the records getting broken is just evidence that the teams are getting stronger and training harder," Kappa Kappa Gamma rider junior Kelsey Cooper said. "The field is the strongest it's been in a couple years, or maybe ever."\nAfter the first three series events, Teter leads the way with 39 total points, thanks to its wins in Team Pursuit and the ITTs. Kappa Kappa Gamma is in second with 46 points, and the Theta team is in third with 66. But the series events only offer so much when it comes to preparing for the actual race itself, senior Rene Luzadder of Delta Zeta said.\n"Team Pursuit is what will demonstrate the most for race day," she said. "It shows which teams will be able to compete in the race as a whole and which teams have more depth."\nThe women's field has been full of storylines this year, as different teams and individuals have had chances to create a legacy of their own. \nRiders like senior Corey Bitzer and Kovac have helped bring the women's race to a new level through record-breaking performances and national media coverage. Bitzer graced the cover of Sports Illustrated On Campus earlier this month, while Kovac has entered the history books with her time trial and Team Pursuit finishes.\n"(The superstar riders) have definitely legitimized the event," Teter coach Chip Armbruster said. "There have been superstars in the past, and the talent level (of today's stars) is pretty consistent with those from the past. The whole field is just a lot stronger, though."\nBut individual riders can only get you so far. It takes a team effort to capture a Little 500 crown. Teams like Kappa and Theta both return nearly their entire team this year after successful runs last year. Kappa brings back three riders from last year's squad, and newcomer sophomore Jessica Sapp finished third in time trials and Miss-N-Out. \nThe Theta team, after winning the championship last year, brings back every rider for a chance at back-to-back titles.\n"(Winning last year) hasn't changed our approach all that much because we know this year will be different," senior Theta rider Katie Beyer said. "We're not training hard to defend last year's win. We're training hard to excel this year."\nThe teams will spend the day together going through final preparations before the race begins at 4 p.m. Breakfasts, meetings and simply getting focused fill each rider's schedule before they hit the track and live out a dream. \nThe one thing every team knows is that once the gun fires and the race begins, truly anybody can come out on top.\n"It should be a really fun race," Armbruster said. "The field is very deep with a lot of teams that could stick their nose out and get the win."\n-- Contact senior writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.