University Athletic Club's men's and women's teams take top spots in Little 50

Dozens of crunched Dixie cups, once full of cold water, lay strewn in front of the bleachers at Robert Haugh Track & Field Complex Saturday afternoon following the fourth annual Little 50 men's and women's running races, the kick-off events to Little 500 week.\nThe high of 83 degrees and ever-present sun demanded that the four runners on each of the 22 women's teams and 25 men's teams that competed stay hydrated. University Athletic Club's men's and women's teams, both named Cream, must have done so effectively, as they scored the top spots in their respective 13-mile races. Both teams led the pack for nearly the entire 50 laps.\n"It comes down to endurance," said junior Jacqui Davis of the women's Cream team who ran the final 900 meters to claim the win, .47 seconds ahead of her competition. "We run consistently year round. Other teams start practicing in January or February."\nSenior Ben Bartley ran the last 500 meters for men's Cream, finishing .22 seconds ahead of Mercury, the second place team.\n"I didn't really feel the last one," he said of his final lap. Bartley said the win was especially meaningful to the team, because all four of the men are seniors and this is their final Little 50.\nMeanwhile, team Local Flavor took second in the women's race while Zeta Tau Alpha claimed third. In the men's competition, Norditalia took third.\nThe heat proved to be an obstacle for all the runners, especially for men's team Delta Sigma Pi, whose team member, junior Drew Smith, collapsed of heat exhaustion early in the race, leaving the team with 3 members to finish the last several laps.\n"We tried as hard as we could to finish but we came up a little short," said senior and Delta Sigma Pi runner Ryan Roemer.\nZTA runner and senior Lindsey Brown said between laps team members would hold cold moist towels on one another to resist the heat.\n"Once you made it past the halfway mark, you got an extra kick and you forgot about the heat," she said.\nAlmost every team had cheering sections of between 20 and 100 fans each, most of which stood for the entire race. Sophomore Katie Vaughn was a finalist for the craziest dressed fan contest hosted by the IU Student Foundation, which also organized the event.\nVaughn donned a full-body panda suit in support of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, who finished 12th. Her rosy cheeks suggested she was uncomfortably warm, but she didn't waver.\n"I love my team," she said. "I love the house." \nBetween laps, runners jogged in place in their respective pits. Alpha Epsilon Phi's team was one of several that kept coolers full of Powerade and bottled water to fight \ndehydration.\n"It's more tiring than I thought it'd be," said AEPhi runner and sophomore Kelly Tilson between laps.\nThe competitions concluded with presentations of medals to the top three teams. But for Davis and fellow Cream member, junior Kristin Norris, the running is far from over. Today, both are competing in the Boston Marathon.\n"It'll be an early night," Davis said.