Defending men's Little 500 champions fail to qualify for this year's race

Though the fields for the men’s and women’s Little 500 were set Saturday, the biggest story of the day was who did not make the race.\nDefending men’s champion Alpha Tau Omega failed to make the field for the 57th men’s Little 500 after faulting on all three qualification attempts. ATO faulted on their first two attempts by dropping the bike during the exchange, forcing them to try one final time at the end of the day.\nThe third run ended on the first exchange for the reining champs. The team attempted a full bike exchange, where each of the two riders were using a different bike, when the second rider began moving before his teammate completed the hand tag required by rule.\nAfter a day of fast racing, Phi Kappa Psi and Beta Theta Pi took the top two places for the men’s race on April 21. Teter and Kappa Delta finished one and two for the April 20th women’s race.\nOn the men’s side, Cutters started the morning on the pole, staying there until late afternoon. As the day progressed, the track became faster and times improved. Two different teams took the lead in the afternoon before Phi Psi won the pole with the second to last run of the day.\nTeter grabbed the pole mid-day from Kappa Delta and held on for the rest of the afternoon. The 2005 champion will look to win its second Little 500 championship in three years.