Last chance to make an impact before race day

If a team in this year's Little 500 race is looking to make a statement, today is its last competitive chance. Team Pursuit is the last of three series events leading up to the big race April 16.\nIn last year's final series event, the Cutters won Team Pursuit and went on to win the main race. This year, the Cutters will start the Little 500 race in the No. 3 position behind Phi Kappa Psi and Briscoe.\nSophomore Cutters rider David Caughlin said the team looks for a strong showing in Team Pursuit. As evident by the Cutters' finish last year, Caughlin said Team Pursuit is a good indication as to how a team will fare in the April 16 main race.\n"The goal is always to win," Caughlin said. "But we are just going to try to go out there and work well and put the training we've done together for our best effort."\nTeam Pursuit involves four riders from each team riding 15 laps together. The officials judge a team's time based on the finish of the third rider, which forces teams to ride together in packs for a better finish.\nAlpha Tau Omega senior cyclist Hans Arnesen has dominated the first two series events by setting a new track record in the Individual Time Trials and finishing first in last weekend's Miss-N-Out. Since 2000, the winner of the Individual Time Trials' team has gone on to win the Little 500.\nSenior Michael Paulin -- Arnesen's teammate -- said a team could have champion cyclist Lance Armstrong riding for them, but the race still comes down to the importance of the third rider.\n"Hans is obviously a real strong guy and we have other strong guys on the team who can definitely hang with him around the track," Paulin said. "Obviously it's great to have him on your team and we need to take full advantage of his skills."\nPole setter Phi Kappa Psi turned heads with its qualifications performance after the team finished No. 16 in last year's Little 500. Senior Charles Pall was the team's highest finisher in ITTs when he finished No. 16., and Pall was the only rider from Phi Kappa Psi to advance to the semifinals of Miss-N-Out. Phi Kappa Psi finished 10th in last year's Team Pursuit and the team's goal is to finish in the top five of this year's ev"In ITTs, it seemed like we took a step backwards," said Phi Kappa Psi sophomore Erik Styacich. "We had four guys advance through the first round of Miss-N-Out, which was one more than last year. This gives us all a good chance to be on the same page and carry some positive momentum into the race."\nAll eyes will be on Arnesen tonight to see if he can carry his team to victory and take the sweep in the three series events. The Corleones stopped Gafombi's attempt for the trifecta in the 2003 Little 500 series events when the team won Team Pursuit.\n"We'll be disappointed if we don't win tomorrow," Paulin said. "But we are more focused on next Saturday. The real deal is Saturday, April 16."\n-- Contact Stass Writer Steve Slivka at smslivka@indiana.edu.