Cutters, Kappa Delta take poles

Kappa Delta rider Lauren Ziemba's Little 500 wasn't supposed to be like this.\nBecause of an injury to teammate Mary Gaz Thursday night, Ziemba doubled her workload and peddled two laps during Saturday's qualifications.\n"I'm a senior this year and I thought this isn't how my senior year is supposed to be," she said. "I'm not supposed to ride two laps. It's supposed to go perfect -- perfect weather, perfect track, perfect quals."\nBut when teammate Lauren Reynolds crossed the finish line, Ziemba screamed, not out of frustration, but out of jubilation. Kappa Delta captured the Little 500 pole position with a time of 2 minutes 44.775 seconds.\nKappa Delta rider Lindsey Manck credits Ziemba with the team's success, both physically and mentally.\n"Lauren Ziemba's an amazing rider," Manck said. "She ran two great laps for us. She was really positive through it all, and that helped us keep our heads up."\nAfter feeling the low of Thursday's injury, Gaz was overcome with emotion once Kappa Delta captured the pole.\n"I was really upset Thursday night, but today I feel awesome," Gaz said. "I started crying; I was so proud of the team, but I wish I could have been out there to help us out."\nKappa Delta's late afternoon effort bumped Alpha Phi, who set the pole time on the first women's qualification attempt of the day with a time of 2 minutes, 45.950 seconds.\nThe Armed Forces women rounded out the first row with a time of 2 minutes 48.087 seconds. Kappa Kappa Gamma, Alpha Gamma Delta and Road Runners make up the second row.\nThe track seemed to be in relatively good condition, especially considering Tuesday's snowfall and Friday's rainfall. Throughout the day, weather conditions ran the gamut from sunshine to snow to hail. The conditions only added to the pressure riders felt trying to qualify for this year's Little 500.\n"It's just like a complete high," said Delta Sigma Pi women's rider Heather Conley. "It sounds stupid, but I was fine until I got here, but with all this hype, with all these people and with all this everything around here you cannot feel anything but out of yourself."\nOn the men's side, race favorite Cutters found themselves in a familiar spot, capturing the pole with a time of 2 minutes 23.242 seconds. Cutter rider David Caughlin said the team was happy to win the pole, but has bigger goals in mind. \n"Our goal is to get into the race in the top three rows," he said. "Quals don't mean too much for the outcome of the race."\nPhi Kappa Psi qualified second and defending champion Dodds House qualified third with times of 2 minutes 23.633 seconds and 2 minutes 25.857 seconds respectively. Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Alpha Mu and Phi Gamma Delta will start in the second row during the Little 500's 56th running April 22.\nWhile some competitors battled rain, snow and hail, the Cutters held on to win the pole by posting a fast time early in the morning when the weather was better.\n"That's quals," Caughlin said. "Sometimes it comes down to the luck of the draw. Thankfully it was pretty good for our ride and we were able to get the pole"