Miss-N-Out

The best of the best showed up again Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.\nLiterally.\nThe leaders of the pack continued to show their prowess at the third of four Little 500 Spring Series events Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium. \nMiss-N-Out, the bike equivalent of musical chairs, featured close, pack riding and crowned senior Teter rider Bri Kovac and junior Team Major Taylor rider Simeon Commissiong the winners of the day-long event. The men's and women's winners, both who have already been successful in the previous series events, led their respective heats through four rounds of competition.\n"I think I am more excited about how the rest of the team did than what I did," Kovac said. "The event is really a chance to show how deep your team is and (the whole team) can do well, which is the most exciting part."\nMiss-N-Out is divided into four rounds, with about seven riders in the first round heat. Riders take four trips around the track, eliminating a rider at each lap. The final lap of the heat determines the three riders who will advance to the next round. \nThe second round is made up of six riders from different heats with the same format as the first round, but only two advance. The third round features eight riders per heat, with the final six riders of the round advancing to the finals. \nThe final round races the best six riders from the previous three rounds and eliminates three riders. The final three riders then take a prep lap and race one lap to determine the first, second and third place finishers.\nThe final round of the women's competition matched Kovac, Delta Zeta senior rider Renee Luzadder, Teter senior rider Mia Dragan, senior Corey Bitzer from Alpha Gamma Delta, Kappa Alpha Theta junior Nicole Vincent and sophomore Jessica Sapp from Kappa Kappa Gamma. \nKovac added the first place finish to her Individual Time Trials record-breaking finish. Second place was awarded to Vincent, and Sapp finished third.\nOn the men's side, the final eight consisted of senior Cutters rider Chris Vargo, Commissiong, Alpha Tau Omega riders sophomore Hans Arnesan and senior Tom Meersman, junior Chas Pall of Phi Kappa Psi and senior Craig Luekens from Dodds House. Commissiong claimed first place, Lukens second and Meersman third place. \nArnesan said the event is good preparation for Little 500. He competed in the finals of the men's competition but was eliminated in the first lap of the final. Even though the series events have no significant baring on the final race, the event is the closest riders will get to individual pack riding before the race.\n"You get a chance to see how other people will ride -- when they are going to sprint and how they are going to sprint," Arnesan said. "The is event is the most fun, definitely a good take on race day."\nBut this year's event did have one significant difference from the actual race: teammates racing against each other. Arnesan and teammate Meersman raced against each other in the finals. Other teams, such as Team Major Taylor, Cutters, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Alpha Theta, also had riders competing against each other in semifinal rounds.\nCommissiong said it can be hard for riders on the same team to compete and support their teammates at the same time. \n"Steven (Ballinger) was in the same heat as i was, so it was hard for us," Commissiong said. "We tried to make sure both of us got in, but it is so hard for two guys from the same team to get in when there were so many other riders in the same heat. \n-- Contact staff writer Katie Schoenbaechler at kmschoen@indiana.edu.