the field is Set

Saturday had all the makings of a traditional Little 500 qualifications afternoon; the weather was gloomy and cool, crowds of fans sporadically showed up to Bill Armstrong Stadium to cheer on their favorite team and the usual suspects -- Alpha Tau Omega, Cutters and Phi Gamma Delta -- all finished in the top five. \nBut it was the unusual that surprised the remaining spectators and supporters when the final men's team to qualify -- Phi Kappa Psi -- took the track at 4:35 p.m. Phi Psi, who finished 16th in 2004, beat out the previous No. 1 time set by Briscoe (2:18.11) and recorded a final time of 2:17.82. \nDespite being disappointed about drawing the final qualifying time of the day, Phi Psi rider sophomore Erik Styacich said the team saw advantages to coming into quals late in the day, other than the obvious advantage of being able to sleep in. \n"We knew what we had to do," Styacich said. "And knew we needed 2:18 or better to get the pole."\nThe team did just that, scoring the fastest qualification time since Sigma Alpha Epsilon's time of 2:15.578 in 1997. \nAfter chanting "Phi Kappa Psi" after the stellar performance, Phi Psi fraternity members showed they weren't as surprised as others that the team came out of virtually nowhere. In 2003 the team barely made the cut as the 33rd team and finished the race in 31st place. Last year it made a huge leap, qualifying seventh and finishing 16th. Styacich said coming out of spring break training in San Diego he knew a high position would be doable, especially with a fast track on Saturday. The team has "amped" training coming from their coach, who is based out of San Diego, and each rider has added a year of experience from last year's Little 500. \nAlthough Phi Kappa Psi cracked the top position, there are always crowd favorites like ATO, Fiji and Cutters, who seem to be in the top ten each year. Of those vintage teams, Fiji took the pole position early, qualifying at 8:10 a.m. with a time of 2:19.44. The team held tight at the top until midday when ATO knocked them to second with a time of 2:19.35. But ATO didn't have long to enjoy their time at the top, as Briscoe qualified at 1 p.m. with a time of 2:18.11 and took the top place. \nAt the time it looked like that would be it, the majority of the competitive teams had already ridden and scored their times, so Briscoe, who placed fifth in the 2004 Little 500 looked to be in a safe place with the pole position. \n"Fiji and ATO already went, Team Major Taylor messed up and they are our biggest rivals, so people will be hard pressed to beat (our time)," Briscoe veteran rider senior Tim Smith said moments after the team's qualifying ride. \nAnd teams were hard-pressed to beat the time. Dodds House took sixth place with a time of 2:21.04 and Cutters, who qualified at 4:10 p.m. slid in right behind Briscoe with a time of 2:18.80. \nAnother surprise of the afternoon came when Team Major Taylor, who qualified first in 2004, failed on their first two attempts. The team returned later in the afternoon to try for their final attempt to make the race. They successfully made their final attempt with a time of 2:30.19 and 22nd place. TMT rider junior Steven Ballinger said the team attributes miscommunications to the problems they had. Ballinger confidently said TMT will have no problems come race day. \n"All of us know how to race and we've been in races where there are more people than (in Little 500), so we'll be able to move up," Ballinger said. "It is what it is. Quals isn't the dictator of the race, if it was (Phi Psi) would be the winner, so we aren't worried about it."\nFor Phi Psi, worrying will also be minimal with the top position come race day. Styacich said the team's hard work and training paid off Saturday with its near perfect run. \n"To get the pole, everything has to come together perfectly and so many other teams had such great runs," Styacich said. "We're just happy everything came together for us like it did."\n-- Contact Senior Writer Katie Schoenbaechler at kmschoen@indiana.edu.