Race against time

Last year, Teter senior Sarah Rieke set a track record time of 2:34.27 during Individual Time Trials. This year, she hopes she can come close to duplicating her record-setting performance.\n“I can only hope to be anywhere close to where I was last year,” Rieke said. “I had a really good week last year. I felt great in quals and ITTs right afterwards.”\nWith Individual Time Trials set to start today at 4 p.m. at Bill Armstrong Stadium, Rieke will look to defend her title from last year. On the men’s side, Cutters rider Sasha Land will look to do the same. \nRieke said her mind-set will not change this year when she comes in as the favorite to win.\n“I was completely surprised by the results last year,” she said. “I didn’t even know what the record was. My eyes were not set on that at all. I’m going in the same way (this year). I do best when I have a rookie heart trying to beat the big girls.”\nWhile Rieke is the clear-cut favorite on the women’s side, Land should have a tougher time repeating his 2007 title. Black Key Bulls junior Isaac Neff finished first in the Individual Time Trials during the fall series and finished fifth in last year’s ITTs. \nThe Individual Time Trials consists of a four-lap sprint around the track by each individual rider. Four riders are on the track at the same time, each starting at a different turn. Each rider begins at a dead stop. A race official holds the back of the bike until the start, and riders start with their feet on the pedals.\n“It gives you more of an individual gauge or measure of how you do,” Acacia senior Carl Eveleigh said of the event. “It individualizes it more in this one event, but in the scheme of everything else, it’s just another piece of trying to come together for the race.”\nBecause it is a sprint, getting off to a good start is a key factor in recording a good time.\n“The starts are where a lot of time can be made up or lost,” Phi Kappa Psi senior David Schweer said. \nIndividual Time Trials are the second event in the spring series events. Other events include Miss-N-Out and the Team Pursuit. Teams earn points based on their finish in each event. After all four events, a series winner is determined, with the winning team wearing white jerseys on race day. \n“It just gives you a lot of confidence heading into race day,” Schweer said of the series events. “It really measures all facets of your team like your individual performance, your sprinting ability and also your team ability. So it’s a really good indication of where you stand.”