Little 500 ITT champs crowned Wednesday

For the second event of the spring series for the Little 500 season and the first individual competition, individual time trials took place Wednesday.

Setting the top time for the men’s participants was senior RJ Stuart of Delta Tau Delta with a time of 2:18.65. That is the fastest since Eric Young’s 2:18.25 in 2009 and the second-fastest since 2007.

Stuart said he was happy to get first place, but he has his eyes on a bigger prize.

“It’s not that important honestly because it’s not the race,” he said. “It’s just another day out riding the bike.”

Stuart said he could have gone even faster had he not messed up on one of his final turns.

“I could’ve probably got a second faster because I clipped the turn in turn three,” he said. “I hit the gutter. I could have gone faster.”

Rounding out the rest of the top five were Steven Sharp of Phi Delta Theta (with a time of 2:20.11), Andrew Morrow of Sigma Chi (2:20.76), Paul Smith of Delta Tau Delta (2:23.34), and Kevin Depasse of Cutters (2.23.35). Smith is ineligible to ride in the Little 500 because he is considered to be on the professional level.

Achieving the top time for the women’s trials was Kathleen Chelminiak of Kappa Alpha Theta with a time of 2:38.95. That also is a best time since 2009, when Kristi Hewitt set a time of 2:34.00, an all-time record.

“You have to be excited about that obviously,” Chelminiak said of her first-place finish. “This is a big spring series event, and I know all the girls have put in so much hard work and it’s just cool to see everyone coming together and giving their hardest. I feel really awesome that I was able to push it and give the fastest time.”

According to Chelminiak, the key to landing the top time was pacing.

“I was definitely pacing pretty hard at the beginning just because that’s what we’ve been working on all week,” she said. “It was just a lot of pacing, and there at the end my coach yelled ‘Go’, so I said, ‘Here I go’.”

The rest of the top five for the women included Lisa Hutcheson of Teter (2:39.85), Kayce Doogs of Delta Gamma (2:40.11), Melissa Moeller of Wing It (2:41.10), and Christine Melloy of Delta Sigma Pi (2:41.51).

This is the third straight year that a member of Teter has placed in the top two. Caitlin Van Kooten won the individual trials the previous two years for the team.

Morrow said his third-place finish was a good building block for him and his team.

Coming off a finish of seventh place in team qualifications, Sigma Chi feels confident heading into the remainder of the riding season.

“Our goal all year was to get the white jersey,” he said. “That’s a combination of doing well on all the spring events. I’m doing well, and my other teammates have done really well. They’ve exceeded expectations. We all feel really good.”