Cutters, Theta win pre-race series

Fighting the frigid temperatures at Bill Armstrong Stadium, Alpha Gamma Delta and Kappa Alpha Theta faced off in the Team Pursuit final with more than the final event on the line.\nWith spring series leader Teter finishing in fifth place, the final of Thursday night’s event determined which team would wear the white jersey on race day.\nFor Team Pursuit, during each heat, two teams take the track, starting in turns two and four. Starting from the infield, riders sprint to their bikes and then ride the heat. Each team is allowed to drop one rider during the heat. The top two teams for the men and the women advance to a championship heat.\nThe two teams kept changing leads throughout the 12-lap final. In the end, Theta pulled out the victory thanks to its ability to keep all four riders during the race. Keeping the fourth rider was crucial to the victory, junior Ali McCormick said.\n“You get a much better draft if you have a fourth person,” McCormick said. “We told our fourth (rider), you have to stick or you are not riding in the race.”\nKate Bolen, the fourth rider, said she knew the team was relying on her to pull – or lead – the rest of the team.\n“When they are counting on you to pull a whole lap with only two laps left, you know those are the three that are going to cross,” she said, “so you have to put it all out there so they can rest.”\nTheta, one of the traditional race powers, is excited to win the spring series and is looking forward to wearing the white jersey. McCormick said knowing the honor would go to the winner of the final heat gave the team extra motivation.\n“Our whole goal was to get the white jersey,” she said. “When you know you are tied with a team in the final event, you are going to bust it.”\nOn the men’s side, the Cutters edged out Dodds House for the title. \nThe Cutters held a small lead for most of the race, but Dodds pulled ahead as the teams began the final lap. To cross the finish line first, senior rider David Caughlin said, the Cutters had to make one final push.\n“They (supporters) were feeding us,” he said, “and we just knew we had to dig a bit harder that last lap to get back in front.”\nThe Cutters will wear white for the second consecutive year as the spring series champions.\nIt’s an honor to wear the white jersey, Caughlin said, but it’s also fashionable.\n“It’s a good jersey to wear,” he said. “It doesn’t absorb the sunlight as much as some of the other jerseys. Also, you get to wear white shorts with it. It looks cool.”