Spring Series 2010 Recap

QUALIFICATIONS

The Cutters weren’t perfect, but they didn’t need to be. The team secured the pole position on its second qualification attempt and will open the race at the front of the pack.

Junior Eric Young wiped out in turn three on the first qualifying attempt and two riders slid out on that turn in the team’s next attempt, but the Cutters’ time, 2:20.52, was more than a second faster than the second-place qualifier.

Phi Kappa Psi and Gray Goat Cycling will fill out the front row on the men’s side.
On the women’s side, Kappa Kappa Gamma took the pole position by posting a 2:42.19, edging out Teter’s qualifying run of 2:42.22.

For the second time in the women’s race history, more than 33 teams attempted to make the race. With the 34th fastest time, Sigma Delta Tau joined the 2006 Gamma Phi Beta teams as the only women’s teams to not qualify for the race.

INDIVIDUAL TIME TRIALS

Junior Teter rider Caitlin Van Kooten couldn’t wait to get her Individual Time Trial run started. But when the gun went off, she went nowhere.

With a standing start to the four-lap event, the volunteer holding her bike didn’t hear the gun — holding on tight as Van Kooten tried in vain to pedal.

“I was so amped up, so ready to go, and then they were holding my bike,” the Teter rider said.

Reshuffled to two heats later, Van Kooten used that pent-up energy to win the women’s event with a time of 2:40.03.

Pi Beta Phi senior Caroline Brown (2:41.01), Delta Gamma teammates Kelsey Kent (2:44.09) and Lauren Half (2:44.44), and Kappa Delta’s Jennifer Balbach (2:44.75) rounded out the top five women.

For the men, defending ITTs champion and member of the pole-winning Cutters team, junior Eric Young posted a 2:22 to win the men’s event for the second straight year.

Following Young, Phi Kappa Psi took three of the next five positions.

MISS 'N OUT

Several men’s favorites struggled. The Cutters’ Eric Young and Phi Delta Theta’s Matt Kain were eliminated after mechanical failures, while Phi Kappa Psi’s Adam Mercer was knocked out in a preliminary round.

The day belonged to Phi Delta Theta as Steve Sharp won the event, while Nick Sovinski competed in the final heat, finishing sixth. The team also had two semi-final qualifiers.

For the women, Teter junior Caitlin Van Kooten followed her ITT victory with a Miss ‘N Out title. The finals had plenty of team diversity — the six riders represented six of the top women’s teams in the race. Pi Beta Phi rider and 2009 race hero Caroline Brown finished 2nd and Delta Gamma’s Lauren Half took 3rd.

TEAM PURSUIT

Teter and Phi Delta Theta got a 2-for-1 deal out of winning the Team Pursuit event. With the victories, both teams also secured the spring series title, and with that, the white jersey for race day.

Junior Caitlin Van Kooten, the ITT and Miss ‘N Out individual winner set the pace on all 24 laps for the team — 12 in the first heat and 12 in the final heat — allowing her teammates to draft behind her.

Teter defeated Kappa Kappa Gamma in the women’s final by six seconds, posting a winning time of 8:20.04.

On the men’s side, Phi Delta Theta dominated the event. Their finals time, 9:17.63, was nearly seven seconds faster than any time posted by another team all day — save for their own 9:12.92 that they put down in their first round heat.

Phi Kappa Psi was Phi Delta Theta’s closes competitor. Phi Psi posted a 9:25.49 in the two-team final. Race favorite Cutters finished 4th with a 9:34.95.