BLOOMINGTON – All it really takes to ruin a team’s Little 500 is one crash.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon had two, one on lap 28 and then another on lap 102. Both incidents left lead rider Joe Krahulik bloodied and seeking medical attention while his teammates scrambled to make up for lost ground.

The crashes were the type of nightmare situations that take teams completely out of Little 500s, let alone title contention. But even after being knocked down twice, SAE rebounded to finish second behind Delta Tau Delta in one of the more adversity-filled races a team could have.

“It’s hard to be disappointed with everyone’s effort,” said senior rider Andy Krahulik. “To come back from all that, that’s something I’m going to remember forever.”

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BLOOMINGTON – There were no regrets, no second thoughts.

Kristen Bignal was at peace with herself.

Bignal, a junior rider for Delta Gamma, came within 0.051 seconds of Little 500 glory only to see Phoenix’s Tabitha Sherwood edge her at the line to win the 29^th women’s Little 500 by less than a tire length. She took her time debriefing the race’s events with her teammates, gathering her thoughts before concluding there was nothing she could have done differently.

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BLOOMINGTON – By now, this is something Little 500 fans should be used to reading: The Black Key Bulls and Teter are the Team Pursuit Champions.

This has become a norm of sorts. Both teams rich with rider depth have dominated Team Pursuit in recent seasons.

For BKB, this year’s win marked the third title in a row. “The Peoples’ Champs” ran the final alone after Sigma Alpha Epsilon scratched and did not race for the title in 9:26.77. They also had the fastest time of the day at 9:23.19 in their first run.

Teter’s win is the program’s sixth Team Pursuit win in the last seven years and the seventh in the last nine. Teter, who ran the fastest time with an 8:30.62 in the championship race, edged out Kappa Alpha Theta for the win.

BLOOMINGTON – The scary thing isn’t what Tabitha Sherwood is doing.

It’s how she’s doing it.

The Phoenix Cycling rider made it a perfect 2-for-2 in the individual Spring Series events by winning the women’s Miss-N-Out title to go along with her Individual Time Trial win she picked up a few days earlier.

Let’s be clear about something up front: Sherwood is the most dominant rider in the women’s field right now.

Miss-N-Outs couldn’t have gone more smoothly for the fourth-year rider. She won the top seed at ITTs to earn the inside position on track and never gave it up in her first heat, semifinal or finals race. If there was a move she needed to make, she made it. No questions. No hesitations. It was textbook.

Delta Gamma’s Kristen Bignal—who really deserves credit in her own right for taking second in both ITTs and Miss-N-Outs—gave Sherwood a scare as best she could on the last Miss-N-Out lap. Bignal made a push down the back stretch against the gusting wind and briefly grabbed the lead heading into Turn 3 on the outside before Sherwood pulled alongside through the middle of Turns 3 and 4 only to power passed down the front stretch.

Had it not been for Sherwood, Bignal would likely be the subject of this story. That’s the raw end of racing that, coincidentally, Sherwood can relate to.

Last year, it was Sherwood finishing second in both ITTs and then Miss-N-Outs behind Kappa Alpha Theta’s Liz Lieberman, who dominated the individual portion of Spring Series. On race day, Lieberman led Theta to its second consecutive Little 500 win.

The team that finished second that day? None other than Sherwood’s Phoenix Cycling. That’s a developing trend worth keeping an eye on.

Of course, the Sherwood-Phoenix/Lieberman-Theta comparison isn’t exactly perfect. Their respective teams’ strengths aren’t equal, which is critical.

Lieberman had a pair of teammates finish in the top-eight in ITTs and another finish 23^rd.

Sherwood has a pair of teammates in the top-24 and another in 33^rd.

On paper, Lieberman had more help, but considering the weather from ITTs, that’s not exactly a firm answer. It’s not a stretch to try and connect the dots and say they’re in almost identical spots.

Sherwood’s been the storyline of the women’s field throughout Spring Series thus far and will likely continue to be throughout the rest of April.

She’s made it clear she’s one of the best riders, if not the best rider in the field already, and said she’s in the best physical shape of her life. Combine that with the urgency that comes with a senior rider being in her last race and there’s a potent combination brewing.

But there’s one thing Sherwood’s still missing. If you’d ask her, she’d trade all the individual wins for it, too.

A Little 500 trophy.

At the rate she’s going, she just may get it.

BLOOMINGTON — Nothing about Tabitha Sherwood’s Individual Time Trial run went according to plan, except the most important part—she won.

Sherwood overcame less-than-ideal track conditions on a borrowed men’s bike to win the women’s ITT in her fourth and final try. After finishing second two years in a row, Phoenix Cycling’s lead rider left no doubt she’s among the class of the field by posting a 2:35.48, exactly 1.5 seconds ahead of Delta Gamma’s Kristen Bignal in second place.

“Four years hard work finally worth it,” Sherwood said.

Sherwood’s time was the lowest since Kristi Hewitt ran a 2:34.0 for Wing It in 2009.

The bike she was supposed to ride was in bad shape after a teammate rode it through the heavy rain that fell sporadically on the track throughout the night. In need of a bike, Sherwood asked Cutters’ Erik “Trevor” Schwedland , who also happens to be her roommate, if she could borrow the one he used earlier in the night.

“I’m on the taller side anyway and can ride a men’s frame,” Sherwood said. “So I was like, ‘Hey Trev, can I use your bike?’ He switched out the bars for me and tried to get the saddle height right, but it wasn’t quite correct and that slowed me down a little bit.”

Despite the sudden change in events, Sherwood flirted with breaking the women’s ITT record. Her only regret was that she said she could have been faster.

“With all the conditions not going the way they should, I’m satisfied,” she said.

Sherwood’s road to the top of the ITT charts has been filled with adversity. Along the way, she’s plowed through anything that could have stopped her without slowing down.

Even after fracturing her hip and suffered a mild concussion last March, Sherwood didn’t miss any time in 2015’s Little 500 Spring Series, finishing second in both the ITTs and Miss-N-Outs even with the lingering injury. Then she paced Phoenix to a second place finish on race day in the team’s first ever Little 500.

Sherwood has become perhaps the most dominant rider in either field, men’s or women’s and is riding as well this year as she ever has in her cycling career. That’s only fed into her confidence a little over a year removed from her injury.

“I wasn’t anywhere near 100 percent (last year),” Sherwood said. “I’m in about the best shape I’ve ever been in my life. This is ridiculous.”

Sherwood made a nearly seamless transition from riding with Collins in 2013-14 to forming Phoenix in October 2014. Although the ITT crown is rewarding considering all she’s had to go through to win it, Sherwood couldn’t help but downplay it knowing the race is a little more than two weeks away.

“It’s ITTs. They don’t matter,” Sherwood said. “What really matters is April 15.”

Phoenix Cycling’s Tabitha Sherwood and Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s Joe Krahulik were the class of the women’s and men’s fields, respectively, claiming Individual Time Trial titles Wednesday night.

Sherwood timed in at 2:35.48, the lowest time since Kristi Hewitt ran a record 2:34.0 in 2009 for Wing It. That time was good enough to edge Kristen Bignal of Delta Gamma (2.36.98) and Kappa Alpha Theta’s Grace Bennett (2:37.98).

Krahulik finished his ITT run in 2:17.24, which is the second-best time in Little 500 ITT history, only trailing Hans Arnesen’s 2:15.78 from his ride with Alpha Tau Omega in 2005. Delta Tau Delta’s Luke Tormoehlen (2:19.60) was second and Cutters’ Nick Thiery (2:20.68) was third.

Sherwood’s ITT win was further proof that she hasn’t lost her footing among the class of the field. After finishing second back-to-back times, including with a fractured hip last season, she was able to break through for her first individual win in her fourth and final attempt.

Krahulik, only a sophomore, turned some heads with his time. The young rider has quickly made a name for himself despite having only one race under his belt.

Though Sherwood and Krahulik proved to be the class of the field, the weather was a dominant story throughout the day. Early on, strong winds and overcast skies made for difficult but manageable conditions until the skies opened up and rain started to fall around the same time to highest seeded riders were set to take the track.

At one point, the ITTs were delayed for about 45 minutes due to lightning strikes in the area. By the time the lightning stopped, the rain started again making for ever-changing track conditions that brought a mixed bag of results.

Some riders who stopped in the press box said the track was incredibly slow in the latter stages of the day. Others who went at nearly identical said it was as good as the track could get. The only certainty was that there was a variance in the way riders kept up with the conditions.

From a team perspective, Kappa Alpha Theta was thee most impressive team of the women’s field placing five riders in the top-14 spots. Bennett led the charge from third but was joined by Abby Rogers (6), Evelyn Malcolm (7), Rachel Brown (12) and Madeline Lambert (14).

Alpha Omicron Pi wasn’t too far behind with four riders in the top-15. Leigh Dukeman led the way from fourth spot, followed by Audrey Healey (9), Ali Oppel (10) and Michaela Ranft (15).

Not surprisingly, Black Key Bulls once again flexed its depth with seven riders in the top-23 spots. Charlie Hammon led the way for “The Peoples’ Champs” in fifth, followed by Nicholas Hartman (7), Spencer Brauchla (8), Xavier Martinez (13), Kevin Mangel (15), Noah Voyles (19) and Michael Chettleburgh (23).

Sigma Alpha Epsilon had Mitchell Sassemar and Andrew Krahulik join Joe Krahulik in 17th and 18th, respectively. Cutters put a pair of riders in the top-10 with Thiery in third and Erik “Trevor” Schwedland in 10th.

By the end of the night, separating teams was rather difficult. Considering the way the weather may or may have not changed the ITT outcomes and the relative parity across the top-25, no teams in particular established themselves as obvious front runners. For that, we may have to wait until at least Miss-N-Outs is over.

Until then, ITTs belonged to Sherwood and Krahulik. Because fast is fast.

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Women’s Top 25

1. Tabitha Sherwood, Phoenix, 2:35.48
2. Kristen Bignal, Delta Gamma, 2:36.98
3. Grace Bennett, Kappa Alpha Theta, 2:37.98
4. Leigh Dukeman, Alpha Omicron Pi, 2:38.89
5. Megan Hulbregtse, Ski, 2:39.20
6. Abby Rogers, Kappa Alpha Theta, 2:39.62
7. Evelyn Malcolm, Kappa Alpha Theta, 2:39.84
8. Julia Thomas, Teter, 2:40.30
9. Audrey Healey, Alpha Omicron Pi, 2:41.01
10. Ali Oppel, Alpha Omicron Pi, 2:41.02
11. Ashley Williams, Ski, 2:41.04
12. Rachel Brown, Kappa Alpha Theta, 2:41.33
13. Eliza Heath, Teter, 2:41.36
14. Madeline Lambert, Kappa Alpha Theta, 2:41.45
15. Michaela Ranft, Alpha Omicron Pi, 2:41.89
16. Fallon Lilly, Melanzana Cycling, 2:42.33
17. Kelsey Kluesner, Teter, 2:42.52
18. Alexandra Kolar, Alpha Chi Omega, 2:42.75
19. Sarah Rivich, Delta Gamma, 2:43.23
20. Brooke Hannon, CSF, 2:44.83
21. Jess McKune, Kappa Delta, 2:44.94
22. Lauren Brand, Phoenix, 2:45.06
23. Libby Momper, Kappa Delta, 2:45.15
24. Melissa Ragatz, Phoneix, 2:46.44
25. Nicole COughlan, Phi Mu, 2:47.16

Men’s Top 25

1. Joe Krahulik, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 2:17.24
2. Luke Tormoehlen, Delta Tau Delta, 2:19.60
3. Nick Thiery, Cutters, 2:20.68
4. Kyle Knight, Beta Theta Pi, 2:20.71
5. Charlie Hammon, Black Key Bulls, 2:21.38
6. Ryan Romenesko, Phi Delta Theta, 2:21.93
7. Nicholas Hartman, Black Key Bulls, 2:20.50
8. Spencer Brauchla, Black Key Bulls, 2:22.80
9. Joseph Hunt, Forest Cycling, 2:23.54
10. Erik “Trevor” Schwedland, Cutters, 2:24.27
11. Evan Zehr, Wright Cycling, 2:24.70
12. Rob Lee, Phi Delta Theta, 2:24.87
13. Xavier Martinez, Black Key Bulls, 2:25.19
14. Chase Van Halen, Pi Kappa Alpha, 2:25.27
15. Kevin Mangel, Black Key Bulls, 2:25.28
16. James Welch, Gray Goat, 2:25.65
17. Mitchell Sassemar, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 2:26.31
18. Andrew Krahulik, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 2:26.56
19. Noah Voyles, Black Key Bulls, 2:26.63
20. Jeff Gough, Lambda Chi Alpha, 2:26.96
21. Sam Anderson, Sigma Phi Epsilon, 2:27.21
22. Jeremy Crawford, Sigma Nu, 2:27.39
23. Abel Berrera Duran, Delta Chi, 2:28.02
24. Michael Chettleburgh, Black Key Bulls, 2:28.02
25. Daniel Cox, Sigma Phi Epsilon, 2:28.33

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