Team Pursuit gives riders last chance to scout foes

Even with teams flying around the track a dozen times, the real action in today's Team Pursuit event might be happening in the bleachers.\nThe final leg of the Spring Series Event will bring all four riders of every team to the track to complete 12 laps. Team Pursuit probably provides the best opportunity to scout the depth of other teams, said Alpha Chi Omega senior Kathleen Shaw.\n"In the other events, you can see everybody individually," Shaw said. "But when you see them as a team, it shows off their depth, and strengths and weaknesses. You can see if this person is pulling every lap, other teams know who to watch out for."\nThe No. 3 qualifying Alpha Chi Omega team actually won't participate in Team Pursuit this year because other time constraints for riders. Shaw said that "it's a lot harder than people think to get everybody together."\nBeyond the scouting aspect, Team Pursuit also provides riders the chance to practice on-track communication. Miss-N-Out champion and Bella Veloce senior Abby Cooper said good communication is a necessity for a top Little 500 performance.\n"You need to know when someone needs off the bike," Cooper said. "You need to be able to communicate."\nIn last year's Team Pursuit, Teter blew away the competition finishing more than 16 seconds ahead of second place Kappa Kappa Gamma. Their time of 8 minutes and 3.86 seconds set a record for fastest women's Team Pursuit time.\n"(All the series events) just require a lot of really, really hard pushing, and hard riding the whole time," Kappa senior Meredith Horner said. "The only benefit of Team Pursuit is you get to draft."\nThe event will start with all four riders lined up in the infield. When the race begins, every rider rushes to their bike lying on the track, then starts peddling. Strategy generally results in riders switching off from the "pull-position" or the position in front of the pack, Horner said. The rider pulling takes the brunt of the resistance as the other three riders drift behind.\n"You just try to stay together as a team," Horner said. "There's a lot of communication. If the pace needs to be slowed, you have to communicate that way."\nBeing the last event, Team Pursuit is the last chance for teams to show whether or not they can contend.\n"I think a lot of teams will do really well," Cooper said. "There are so many deep teams out there."\n-- Contact Sports Editor Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.