Rain washes out Team Pursuit race

For the second time in a month, Little 500 activities were suspended because of inclement weather. The first time, riders missed two days of practice because of snow. This time, Mother Nature washed out the final spring series event, Team Pursuit -- the third in a pre-Little 5 race series.\nRace Coordinator Lucas Calhoun said the event would not be rescheduled and only the first two events' results were calculated to determine series champions -- Cutters for the men and Alpha Phi for the women.\n"Obviously everyone is disappointed," said Cutters rider David Caughlin. "We knew we would put up a fast time, but we wanted to see how we were. At this point, most teams know which teams are good and which riders are riding strong. Personally, it's my favorite event so I'm disappointed."\nWhile Cutters had already captured the prestigious green jersey, given to the pole winner, Caughlin said his team was excited to win the series and plans to wear white jerseys on race day.\nThough Alpha Phi rider Katie Thompson was excited to capture the white jersey, the reward for winning the series, she said she was disappointed Team Pursuit was canceled.\n"It's part of the fun that we're going to miss out on by not having everybody participate in it," Thompson said. "The weather has just been unfortunate this entire season."\nThompson said Alpha Phi had three goals this year. It accomplished the first -- qualifying in the first three rows for race day -- when it posted the second-best qualification time a couple weeks ago. Capturing the white jersey was the team's second. But those goals won't mean anything without the team's ultimate goal, a Little 500 championship, Thompson said.\n"Yes, the series events are somewhat of an indication of the best that each team has, but come race day, no one cares how you did in the series events," she said.\nLike Thompson, Wing It rider Jaimie Hewitt was disappointed about the rain-out. But she said she thought the decision was made in the riders' best interests.\n"I know the track will probably be in bad condition," she said, adding she did not want anybody to get hurt nearing race day.\nHewitt said her team will still be able to scope the field at practices.\n"I think we're out there everyday at the track seeing how other people are on the track," Hewitt said. "We can just kind of gauge it that way." \nThe teams have scheduled a couple of practice races before race day, which will allow teams to get used to what the race conditions will be like.\nEven with the cancellation, Caughlin said he still likes his team's chances for the April 22 race.\n"We are feeling good heading into the race," he said. "We just want to get out to the track and get more work in and get ready"