Rain and overcast weather hung over Bill Armstrong Stadium on Wednesday afternoon as riders were beginning the first event in the Spring Series, Individual Time Trials.
ITTs are followed by Miss N Out and Team Pursuit in the coming weeks.
A total of 352 riders competed in 88 heats with four riders each. Each rider races four laps around the track and is timed individually.
The gloomy weather didn’t stop Brooke Hannon of Melanzana. Hannon set a new women’s ITT record with a time of 2:33.083. The previous record stood for almost for 10 years, but was overtaken Wednesday evening. Kristi Hewitt previously set the record with 2:34.00 in 2009.
While Hannon broke the previous record, another rider, Rachel Brown of Kappa Alpha Theta (2:33.637), also broke Hewitt’s record. Yet, she finished behind Hannon in the standings.
Rounding out the women’s side, Caitlin Kamplain of Theta Phi Alpha came in third (2:37.197), Hanna Coppens of Delta Gamma placed fourth (2:37.235) and Audrey Morlan of Delta Gamma finished fifth (2:39.583).
While the women had two riders break the ITT record, the men came up just short of Hans Arnesen of Alpha Tau Omega, who rode a 2:15.78 in 2005. The top male finish was from Joe Krahulik of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and he finished just off the record by more than two seconds with a time of 2:17.893.
Despite only being a junior, Ethan Miller from Lambda Chi Alpha is a Little 500 rookie and never experienced this kind of competition before.
“I really didn’t know what to expect going out, but I’m pretty pleased with what happened,” Miller said. “Going forward I’m excited.”
The competition was fierce as places three through five were all separated by less than one-tenth of a second.
The Black Key Bulls were relevant Wednesday once again. Xavier Martinez finished second at 2:19.437. Sigma Phi Epsilon finished in third and fourth place, Ben Harris (2:22.467) and Tom Settle (2:22.503). Rounding out the top 5 was Matthew Thompson of 3PH Cycling with a time of 2:22.630.
Many riders expressed their love for the track and the conditions despite it not being the sunniest of days. Riders were excited about the windless day and knew that would bring fast times, especially Makaea Miller of Phi Mu.
“The track is pretty solid today, there’s no wind, the temperature is good,” Miller said. “I think it’s gonna be a really fast ride today.”
The riders knew what they were talking about as the track provided for two new ITT records.
The perfect racing weather was a nice change of pace from qualifications last weekend which saw snow, rain and hail.
With ITTs concluding, Miss N Out will be the next event in the Spring Series, giving the riders another tune up before Little 500 week.
