Cutters back for more

Seven Championships.\nTwo Poles.\nAll-time record holders in both the Team Pursuit and the Little 500.\nWhile the Cutters boast one of the most impressive Little 500 resumes in the history of the race, this year's team has the potential to be one of the best Cutters squads ever.\nAlthough many riders have pegged the Cutters as the favorite heading into the April 22 race, the team's business-as-usual approach to racing shows it is taking nothing for granted at this years' Little 500 race.\nThe team, named after the squad from the 1979 movie "Breaking Away," returns all four riders from last year's seventh-place performance. Its top-10 finish was even more impressive because only three riders peddled the majority of the laps after a concussion sidelined junior David Caughlin around lap 12.\nAfter the tough race-day experience, Caughlin -- along with fellow riders Greg Buhay, Alex Bishop, Sasha Land and Jason Fowler -- began preparing for this years' race with 20 hours of training each week during the winter to pedal more miles and gain aerobic strength. During the past few weeks, the team members have cut down to about 12 to 15 hours a week, practicing at a higher intensity to get speed in their legs.\nIn the various events leading up to the race, the Cutters put on a display of their aerobic and sprinting powers, showing why many teams said they would be the favorite heading into the race.\nThe team took the pole at qualifications by posting a time of 2 minutes, 23.242 seconds -- more than a second faster than second-place finisher Phi Kappa Psi.\nThe Cutters had dominating performances at both the Individual Time Trials and Miss-n-Out. Three of the top-10 riders at ITT's were from the Cutters, and at Miss-n-Out Bishop passed defending champion Hans Arnesen on the final turn to take first place.\nWhile the Cutters won the green jersey awarded to the pole winners, they will opt to wear the white jersey they received after winning the spring series events by 11 points over second-place Dodds House. The team chose to wear the white because of the honor and prestige the jersey contains, Caughlin said.\nEven though the Cutters used the qualifications and spring series events to prepare for race day, they said they want to enjoy their time at the track.\n"We want to come and have some fun," Buhay said about the series events. "I mean, we take it seriously, but it's a good time to get some competition before the race, but the race is the day that counts."\nAfter posting impressive results in the spring series events, the Cutters like their odds to take the checkered flag this weekend.\n"We have as good a chance as anyone," Bishop said. "There is no doubt about what we can do as a team."\nThe Cutters are confident heading into the race, but they also aren't taking anything for granted in their quest for the eighth championship in the team's history.\n"I think we train hard, so I think we should be competitive," Caughlin said. "There are a lot of talented riders out there and there will be good competition. It should be a good race"