Returning riders take top women's spots

Kappa Alpha Theta senior Krissy Johnson can't seem to beat Alpha Delta Pi senior Emily Derkasch. \nIn last year's women's Little 500 individual time trials, Derkasch topped Johnson by .03 seconds to finish fifth. In this year's time trials Wednesday at Bill Armstrong Stadium, Derkasch beat out Johnson by .48 seconds to capture the top spot. \nRoadrunner sophomore Jenn Wangerin set the fastest time early at 2:55.19 in the 10th heat of the day. Derkasch went to the track 15 heats later and took her four laps in 2:53.34 seconds. Johnson's 2:53.82 in the 38th heat would be the closest anyone could get to Derkasch's time. Wangerin finished third with her teammate, senior Sam Karn, finishing fourth and Gamma Phi Beta senior Deirdre Finzer, also an IDS staffer, rounding out the top five. The difference between first and fifth was a little more than three seconds.\n"I knew it felt good," Derkasch said. "I just kept thinking, 'Go, go, go.' I just had to go as hard as I could. You just can't think. In the race, you think."\nJohnson, who finished sixth last year in the time trials but didn't race in the Little 500, credited the endurance training she and her teammates did.\n"I went out early last year," Johnson said. "I knew I was going to be tired on the third lap, but on the fourth lap I was running on adrenaline. I just wanted to go hard. It's only four laps out of your life."\nThe Roadrunners did the opposite of Johnson last year, and didn't participate in individual time trials but race; they finished fourth. Roadrunners coach Susan Gasowski said it is up to the team whether it participates in the trials. \n"It's good to get into the mind-set to compete against the other riders that will be running in the race," Gasowski said.\nWhile Wangerin and Karn both finished in the top five, Gasowski said those results could have been switched because the team's fastest rider changes on a daily basis.\n"We have been working really hard in practice," Gasowski said. "We wanted to have negative splits, and our goal was to drop time and have every lap be faster than the previous one. The last two laps are the hardest for the riders, but I'm real proud of them."\nTimes at the track have been slower compared to last year. Last year's winning time was 2:39.18, more than 10 seconds faster than this year. Derkasch said the lack of rain in the area has made track conditions poor.\n"It's a lot looser," Derkasch said. "The turns are tighter. You can't confidently ride on the inside."\nKappa Alpha Theta senior Sara Coffman finished 10th in last year's individual time trials, but was hampered by a viral lung infection this year. Coffman said track conditions were worse than last year but have gradually improved.\n"It's difficult to ride on, but there was a vast improvement (from earlier this year)," Coffman said. "Turn three needs some work, but it's much nicer since (qualifications)."\nThe next series event for the women's Little 500 teams is Saturday's Miss-n-Out.