Kappa Delta claims first title in 20th annual race

Lindsey Manck admitted she probably watched the finish from the last year’s Little 500 about 20 times. A photo from the finish hung in Manck and her Kappa Delta teammates’ car as they drove around during a spring break training trip. The image shows Kappa Kappa Gamma then-senior Jess Sapp cross the finish line mere inches in front of Kappa Delta then-senior Lauren Ziemba to win the race. For the women who finished the 2006 race in second place, the photo is a bitter reminder. \n“You see that picture a lot,” Manck said. “It sticks with you.” \nAnd to make sure there were no unsettling images from this year’s race, Kappa Delta coach Norm Houze wrote a message on the bottom of that photograph that traveled with the team. “2007 will be different. Expect to win.”\nWith last year’s race still fresh in their minds, Kappa Delta blew past the rest of the women’s field to claim their first ever Little 500 championship. \n“I am ecstatic,” Kappa Delta rider Julie Panzica said \nshortly after the race. “We trained so hard in the fall and \nespecially in the spring, and it’s so nice to be rewarded for all that hard work.”\nAfter sitting with the lead pack of riders for the majority of the race, Kappa Delta made their move at about lap 60. Manck started sprinting past riders from Kappa Alpha Theta, Teter and Kappa Kappa Gamma in preparation for an exchange. The maneuver, called a burnout, gives the team a slight lead so that after an exchange the new rider does not have to make up that much distance. \nBut when Manck started to pull away, nobody seemed to notice. \n“It looked like the pack was not paying attention, or they were getting a little lazy out there, or they didn’t respect us,” Houze said. “So we said ‘Hmm, maybe this is the time to go.’”\nAnd they went. \nInstead of exchanging the bike with teammate Lauren Magee, Manck stayed on the bike and continued her fast pace. Within one lap, she built a five-second lead. \n“We just said ‘OK, we’re going,’” Manck said. “And we weren’t going to look back.”\nBy lap 71, the advantage was a quarter lap. By lap 80, it was half a lap. \nEven after Manck got off the bike, the lead grew. \n“I knew we were strong enough to hold that lead,” Magee said. “So I just gave it my all.”\nMost other teams giving chase thought they would be able to reel in Kappa Delta. Teter, Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Kappa Gamma started their pursuit at about lap 90, but by then it was too late.\nKappa Delta crossed the finish line three-fourths of a lap ahead of second-place Teter.\n“It sucks to have to play catch-up the whole race,” said Theta’s Brittany Mahoney. “It’s hard being alone up in front, but if they have that distance and no one can catch them, you know they’re going to be out there for a while.”\nSome Kappa Delta riders thought they might not have been respected. \n“I feel like coming into it a lot of teams maybe overlooked us a lot more because we don’t have the history that Theta does and Kappa (does),” Kappa Delta’s Lauren Reynolds said. “But I feel like now people will watch out for us a little more.”\nWith the win, Kappa Delta became only the third sorority to win in the 20-year history of the women’s race.\nAfter realizing first place was out of reach, Teter and Kappa Alpha Theta positioned themselves for a sprint to second place. Teter’s Sarah Rieke beat out Mahoney from Theta to claim the runner-up trophy. Cycledelics and Kappa Kappa Gamma rounded out the top five.