With ITTs coming up Wednesday, we take a look at who some of the fastest returning riders from last year,
An amazing six of the top seven in ITTs from last year are back this year on the men’s side. It should make for quite the competition this year.
Defending champion Black Key Bulls returns three riders who were in the top 12 this year, giving them three of the top eight returning riders this year.
We’re keeping a running commentary on Quals throughout the day here. Check back in for updates. The live running order is constantly updated on our page “2015 Running Order.”
With Qualifications coming Saturday, we thought we’d look into how each team attempting to qualify for the 2015 Little 500 has done in the last four years in Qualifications.
After each team’s name is the spot they qualified for in 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011, in that order. Teams are listed alphabetically.
When looking back on last year’s Little 500 men’s race, the majority of the field was surprisingly young, outside of BKB’s veteran-led lineup. This year, all those young riders are back with experience.
It makes for a more of a veteran feel to this year’s race, with four teams returning four riders with race experience, and five additional teams returning three riders with race experience. Should all of those teams qualify (and our guess is they will), that means 27 percent of the starting grid on race day will be made up of teams with at least three riders with returning race experience.
Here’s a look at the men’s teams with the most returning riders and the most race experience.
Forest
With all four riders back from last year’s race team, Forest brings an impressive nine years of combined race experience into this year’s Little 500 season. Three of its riders all have at least two years of race experience entering the upcoming race. Seniors Robert Henderson and Austin Portolese both have three years of race experience, joining six other riders in this year’s field who can say the same thing. Kyle Swain has two years of Little 500 race experience, and Richard Dixon has one for this team made up entirely of seniors.
With Quals coming up this Saturday, we decided to take a look at which teams return the most Little 500 experience, and which teams return a majority of their riders from last year.
While race experience isn’t everything, it certainly helps. And being familiar with your teammates certainly helps on Qualifications day, when the most important thing is your ability to exchange cleanly. Teams who have worked on exchanges together for years tend to have an advantage there.
So, without further ado, here’s a look at the most experienced Little 500 teams for 2015.
Melanzana
This independent team has five riders on its roster who have race experience, making it by far the most experienced team in the field. The five, consisting of Julie Daugherty, Fallon Lilly, Rose Mullaney, Elizabeth Murzyn and Katie Reynolds boast a combined eight years of Little 500 race experience coming into this season. Mullaney is one of the most experienced riders in the field, with three years of race experience. She’s one of just three racers in the women’s field with three years experience. Reynolds, also a senior, has two, while the other three each have one year of race experience.
While I’m no longer in Bloomington, it doesn’t mean this site can’t still live on. Several of you on here are passionate about Little 500 from a distance, and I’m included in that group now, too.
I’ll still try to deliver the highest quality content I can (and yes, I’m planning to be back in Bloomington in April), but I also know several people are looking for a site just to talk about the teams and riders and what’s going on. I want that to be here at 33to1.
So, while I won’t be live tweeting or regularly posting updates from this weekend’s events in all likelihood, feel free to use this post to share thoughts and results on the Fall Cycling Series.
For those unaware, there are ITTs going on at Bill Armstrong Stadium on Friday night, Street Sprints on Kirkwood on Saturday afternoon and Cyclocross Sunday afternoon in the tailgate fields. For a full entry list of contestants, visit the IUSF site here.
Now, let’s get to talking!
It had all the makings for a sprint finish.
After teams exchanged the lead all afternoon and a group of 10 teams were in contention for the title midway through the Little 500, the field whittled down to seven with two laps to go.
via @whatiwore
Black Key Bulls, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Phi Delta Theta, Delta Tau Delta, Beta Theta Pi, Cutters and Sigma Chi had escaped the field and had formed a small peloton. They were preparing for a sprint finish. It was lap 199.
As they rounded turn three, though, Beta Theta Pi’s Chris Craig slid out. The crash took out six of the seven competing teams. Only Black Key Bulls escaped unharmed.
And after one lap under a yellow flag, Black Key Bulls was able to race the final lap unthreatened, crossing the checkered flag alone for its first-ever title in nine races.
Below are the full results from the 64th men’s Little 500:
1. Black Key Bulls
2. Phi Delta Theta
3. Delta Tau Delta
4. Sigma Phi Epsilon
5. Phi Gamma Delta
6. Beta Theta Pi
7. Sigma Alpha Epsilon
8. Cutters
9. Sigma Chi
10. Wright Cycling Continue reading
For the past three years, Kappa Alpha Theta was right there on the final lap of the Little 500. So close to winning its fifth-ever Little 500 title.
In 2012 and 2013, Theta was defeated in sprint finishes, finishing second in each race. On Friday, the curse was broken.
Kappa Alpha Theta, overcoming a crash in the middle of the race, won a sprint finish between Teter, Alpha Chi Omega, Phi Mu and Cru, taking the 27th women’s Little 500 title in a 0.132-second victory.
Below are the full, unofficial results from the 2014 women’s Little 500:
1. Kappa Alpha Theta
2. Teter
3. Alpha Chi Omega
4. Phi Mu
5. Cru
6. CSF Cycling
7. Ski
8. Melanzana
9. Chi Omega (started 20th, Dixie Highway Award winner)
10. Kappa Delta Continue reading
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