After winning back-to-back Little 500s in 2018 and 2019, Cutters had been on the quest for a victory in the past two runnings of the men’s Little 500. Finishes of 2nd in 2021 and 4th in 2022 left Cutters hungry for a victory in 2023, a feat that they were able to achieve Saturday, winning their 15th.
“It just feels great,” Cutters’ freshman Judah Thompson said after the victory.
Saturday’s victory marked the end of a dominant spring for Cutters after qualifying in the pole position on March 25 and winning the Team Pursuit on April 8.
The race began with a lap three crash coming out of Turn 2, but it stayed green as the riders involved mounted their bikes in a hurry to continue.
With just one wreck in the first 50 laps, the day’s first yellow flag came out of lap 52 as another wreck took place coming out of Turn 2. Alpha Sigma Pi, Bears and Phi Kappa Psi were three of the teams that were involved.
After watching Teter Cycling get out to a 16-second lead in Friday’s women’s Little 500, Sigma Phi Epsilon made a push of the same sort around lap 70. Trailing Sigma Phi Epsilon by nearly 22 seconds on lap 96, Cutters stuck to a more consistent strategy.
“It was just being patient in the end,” Cutters’ senior Torin Kray-Mawhorr said after edging out Delta Tau Delta for the victory.
In the laps following the halfway mark, Sig Ep’s lead began to decrease, eventually reaching just seven seconds on lap 116. A clean exchange on lap 120 along with exchanges for the other contending teams of Delta Tau Delta, Cutters and Chi Alpha, saw Sig Ep stretch its lead to 14 seconds.
Cutters took the lead on lap 148 after trailing Sig Ep for the majority of the race. The next 10 laps saw the Delts and Cutters exchange the lead as Chi Alpha began to march their way the front to contend with the leaders.
Chi Alpha and the Delts wrecked on the front stretch as they were nearing the start-finish line, a wreck that shuffled them back in the field and had the possibility to take them out of contention for the victory.
The wreck came because of Phi Gamma Delta who lost control in the pack and then received a five-second penalty due to its part in causing the wreck.
After the wreck, it seemed to be a two-team fight to the finish, but the Delts were able to regain the draft of Cutters and Sig Ep. A yellow flag came out of lap 189 as Beta Theta Pi freshman Tokelo Makepe was stretchered off the track after Beta Theta Pi’s rider who was attempting an exchange collided with the boards in its pit.
Sig Ep took the green flag on lap 191, beginning a nine-lap run to the finish. With the Delts and Cutters going back and forth during the last couple of laps, Cutters was victorious by just .133 seconds in a photo finish.
Sig Ep, Chi Alpha and Phi Kappa Psi rounded out the top five of the 72nd running of the Little 500.
Another iteration of the “World’s Greatest College Weekend” has come and gone as Cutters has extended its record number of victories to 15.
“I just can’t process this,” Thompson said with tears in his eyes.
