On lap four of the 37th women’s Little 500, the race was going smoothly as all teams remained in a tight pack. But this proximity led to a crash, and the crash led to a 15-racer pile up that scrambled every team’s gameplan.
So, when WSR — the only team with just two riders — fell into the crash, their already skewed strategy became completely disrupted.
"We felt totally prepared for the race,” junior WSR rider Sophie Boller said. “We were confident and ready, and it felt great knowing we'd be there at the end — but that wasn't the case after the crash. Everything kind of collapsed."
Boller was the one to go down, getting rolled and tumbled over by at least a dozen riders behind her, but she continued on. Already facing adversity, starting the race with just two riders instead of the usual four, WSR fell even further behind the pack.
Still, Boller pushed forward.
In a race where most teams spend nearly a full year preparing, WSR was playing catch-up from the start.
The pair didn’t begin seriously training until mid-February, just two months before race day.
The duo admitted during media day April 16 that they hadn’t even planned on competing. Both had other commitments and weren’t sure they could form a full team, which they didn't. But with the April 20 registration deadline looming, they decided they were in.
“We just signed the forms and figured we’d see what happened,” senior rider Willow Thompson said. “At first, it was just going to the track once or twice a week. Then we got a coach, and we started getting more committed. It all snowballed in the best way.”
That late start meant everything had to come together quickly. Team chemistry, strategy, and race fitness all had to develop in a short time. Despite the limited preparation, the two looked back after the race with pride in the decision they made.
It had been a while since they had gotten on the bike, but Boller worked through it.
“I hadn’t even touched a Little 500 bike since freshman year,” Boller said. “It was a short journey, but we were still right there the whole race. That alone says a lot.”
WSR entered the race with their sights set on victory, driven by the possibility of making Little 500 history as the only two-person team to cross the finish line first. They came in with what they called a “balls to the wall” attitude — a mindset that Thompson described as the team's motto heading into race day in a media day interview.
The motto was all about going as hard as one physically can, pushing one's own limits. This motto went into effect instantly after the crash.
"We were definitely in contention,” Thompson said. “But like every Little 500, it has its ups and downs — and unfortunately, we were part of the down with that crash at the start. From then on, it was just chasing and fighting as a two-person team. We had the grit and the stamina to keep going."
The duo pushed forward, refusing to let the early crash define their race.
Once Thompson reentered following the exchange, the lead pack had already begun to pull away. Lap by lap, the gap grew, but so did their resolve. With only two riders, WSR had no choice but to ride smart, conserve energy and capitalize on opportunities. There was no room for error because there was no one else to fall back on.
“After the crash, it was all about staying composed,” Thompson said. “We just had to be patient, follow the moves and ride with grit.”
That belief carried them through the middle of the race, where endurance began to matter just as much as speed. With fewer legs to rotate through, fatigue set in quickly — but the team never let up.
Now into the halfway point, Thompson and Boller switched on and off the bike, continuing the uphill battle they faced. However, they never got discouraged.
“There were moments where we were only half a lap down, we never stopped believing we could fight back,” Boller said.
Entering the 90th lap, the time crunch was on. Still a lap behind the front pack, Boller mounted the bike following a transition and took off to the finish line pushing with everything to catch the teams in front.
WSR crossed the finish line one lap behind the lead, finishing in eighth place, but the result didn’t tell the full story.
“We’re sad that we didn’t win, but it is what it is,” Thompson said. “I got to do this with one of my best friends, and it was a really fun journey.”
