Not so trivial Pursuit

For sophomore Kate Laudermilk and the rest of her Alpha Phi teammates, today's Team Pursuit will give them a chance to prove their second-place finish at qualifications was not an aberration. \nMen's and women's Little 500 teams will take the track today for Team Pursuit, the final series event before the races. Team Pursuit is a 12-lap race pinning two teams at opposite sides of the track.\nThe event begins at 3 p.m. today in Bill Armstrong Stadium. The finals are scheduled to begin at 9:24 p.m. for the women and at 9:36 p.m. for the men. \nAfter holding the pole position for most of the qualifications day before being nudged by Kappa Delta by less than two-tenths of a second, Laudermilk said today's event will help ease the nervousness that might accompany some riders during the women's Little 500 race April 21. \n"Series events just give you more confidence," she said. "If you do well in series events, you gain more and more confidence. It just makes you feel less jittery about race day, really."\nWith a strong showing, Alpha Phi could win the series and claim the coveted white jersey on race day. Two riders, senior Katie Thompson and junior Trevy Ramos, finished in the top five for individual time trials and Thompson placed fourth Saturday at Miss-n-Out.\nThey will have to dethrone Kappa Kappa Gamma, who won the series events last year. Already, Kappa rider Jess Sapp has swept the Individual Time Trials and Miss-n-Out. \nAlpha Phi races at 5:48 p.m. and Kappa Kappa Gamma races at 4:12 p.m., the same time as defending race champion Teter. Pole sitters Kappa Delta race at 6:36 p.m. against perennial powerhouse Kappa Alpha Theta.\nFor her two first place \nfinishes, Sapp earned her team one point in each event. The second-place winner received two points, and the rest of the competitors received the number of points corresponding to their place. \nThe team with the fewest number of points after Team Pursuit wins the series event and will wear the white jersey during the race. \nSenior Alpha Tau Omega rider and men's ITT champion Hans Arnesen said Team Pursuit is the last chance to scout out other teams.\n"These series events are great preparation for the race," Arnesen said. "It's good to see who's riding fast and who's riding strategically well."\nOne team riding strategically\n well in the series events is Cutters. Since winning the pole at qualifications, Cutters had three riders, juniors Sasha Land and David Cauglin and sophomore Alex Bishop finish in the top 10 at ITTs. Bishop also won Miss-n-Out, and Caughlin made it to the semifinals.\nCutters will race at 6 p.m., and ATO will race at 6:24 p.m.\nArnesen, who like Cutters has had an exceptional series event showing, hopes ATO can earn the white jersey after narrowly losing it to FIJI last year.\n"If we were able to get the white jersey, it'd be a fun thing to wear," he said. "But it's a lot of work, and we'll do our best at team pursuit"