Kappa Kappa Gamma wins record 5th Little 500 title

The sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma can now take "Little 5" literally.\nThe team won its record-setting fifth championship in familiar fashion Friday. Kappa rider Jess Sapp edged Kappa Delta's Lauren Ziemba by inches to seal the Kappas' fifth championship, a women's Little 500 record.\nThe finish mirrored Kappa's fourth championship in 2004 when Sapp out-sprinted Teter rider Bri Kovac in the final moments of the race.\n"My team is so strong this year that I knew they could go in and hold off everybody else," Sapp said. "And then at the end I would come in and finish the sprint. It worked out exactly how we planned."\nTheir fifth championship breaks a tie held with Kappa Alpha Theta.\nOnce Sapp got on the bike at the beginning of the 97th lap with Kappa on the lead lap, her teammates were confident they would be champions.\n"We just couldn't believe that this happened," said teammate Colleen Groth. "We knew that Jess would have that umph in her legs and go out there and give all she got."\nSapp dominated the series events, winning both the Individual Time Trials and Miss-n-Out.\n"When she got on, we knew she could do it," said Kappa rider Anna Gartner. "She could ITT-it. She won ITTs. We knew that she had it once she got on the bike."\nThe win was extra sweet for Gartner because her mother is a Theta alum from IU.\nEven the eventual runner-up thought Sapp would win.\n"I knew that last lap that Jess Sapp would cross the finish line first, but I was so close and it was my goal to beat her," Ziemba said. "I'm so glad how it ended up anyways. It was the perfect way to end my senior year."\nBefore Sapp received Kappa's final exchange, teammate Caroline Andrew gave her some words of encouragement.\n"Before Jess went in, I kind of hit her on the arm and said be confident in yourself, because if I had to put money on one person in this it would be you," Andrew said. "She gave me a smile. Her head was obviously just in the race, but she was pretty calm and pretty relaxed all things considered."\nAt the start of the final lap, Sapp, Ziemba and three other riders rode in a small pack, waiting for someone to make the first move to try to take the lead. Sapp said she learned from other races that maintaining the inside of the track was key.\n"I worked about 80 percent, I would say, right until the end," she said. "As soon as I start to see them picking up is when I think, 'OK, I don't want them to pass me. I'm gonna sprint all the way in.' And that's when my sprint started, about right after turn two."\nCoach Bill Naas said his team ran the "perfect race."\n"We put Jess Sapp in a position to win," he said. \nNow a senior, Sapp said this race was different than her sophomore year.\n"I felt a lot more confident about myself," she said. "You have one win under your belt. I have one ITT, Miss-n-Out this year. In my sophomore year, it was Bri Kovac everybody was watching out for. So I was more thinking how I was going to beat Bri. But this year I was thinking 'How can I just hold off everybody else?'"\nShe also had memories of a friend. Before the race, officials released green and pink balloons in honor of deceased Delta Zeta sister Nichole Birky. For Sapp, it was a reminder of Kappa Kappa Gamma's Ashley Crouse, who was killed in a car accident during race week last year. \n"When they released the balloons this year, it brought back so many emotions," Sapp said. "They had released the balloons for her last year. I just thought a lot about her right before the beginning -- thought about her smile and how excited she would be to be here. I was really sad she couldn't be here, but at the same time I just wanted to ride hard and know that if she was on the bike, she would have ridden just as hard."\nWith their dynasty secured, Groth thinks this championship will lure more women to the race. \n"Hopefully we'll encourage a lot of women's riders out here," she said. "We won't become an opening for the men's race. This is a competition. It's exciting to be a part of it. We hope to attract a lot of other women and understand being part of a team is such a unique experience."\n- Staff writers Chris Engel and Brian Janosch contributed to this story.