Riders react to senator’s presence at Little 500

Barack Obama left freshman Melissa Vargas a little disappointed. \nThe Democratic presidential hopeful walked around the track Friday at Bill Armstrong Stadium, shaking hands with every rider before the women’s Little 500 race. \nVargas wanted more. \n“I was hoping to get a hug, but a shake is totally fine,” said Vargas, a rider for Mezcla. \nObama made an unannounced cameo at the race Friday in between campaign stops in Columbus, Ind., and Terre Haute, which might have been one of the worst-kept secrets of the campaign. The Indiana Daily Student reported Friday there was a good chance the junior senator from Illinois might break away from his schedule to court student voters at the race. \nThat didn’t make it any less exciting for some of the riders.\n“It was crazy,” said Lisa Adams, a sophomore rider for Clutch. “It was a great adrenaline rush, I’m not going to lie.”\nAdams said Obama wished her and her teammates luck. \n“He was a very genuine guy,” Adams said. “I thought it was very cool, very respectable of him to come down here.”\nFor Vargas, all the anxiety of the upcoming race vanished with Obama approaching. \n“At that moment, I was more nervous to shake his hand,” Vargas said. “As soon as he was gone, (nerves about the race) came right back in.”\nVargas, who supports Obama, doesn’t hide her political conviction, even during the race. She and her team painted the Spanish words “Si se puede” on the wooden board that provided a backdrop to Mezcla’s pit. “Si se puede” roughly translates to “Yes we can,” a slogan used by the Obama campaign. \nObama and dozens of photographers, videographers and reporters, walked across the track and onto the infield at about 3:45 p.m., 35 minutes before the race was scheduled to begin. He walked onto the stage, where he shook hands with IU Student Foundation Steering Committee members. After exiting the stage, he made his way to the track and wished each rider good luck. \n“I thought he would make a speech or something,” said Phi Mu sophomore Brittany Walk, “but to shake every rider’s hand, that’s pretty hardcore.”\nObama, by design, did not address the crowd. Little 500 Race Coordinator Matt Ewing said IUSF did not want Obama to take away from the race. \n“Barack wanted that as well,” Ewing said. “I think that happened. I think all the riders enjoyed it.”\nPerhaps no one enjoyed it more than Delta Gamma senior Jessica Lander, though it might help that her team won the race. She jokingly credited Obama for the feat. \n“You know,” she said with a laugh, “he did take our T-shirt, and he did give me an extra-firm handshake.”\nWinning the race was great, Lander said. Meeting Obama made it even better.\n“It was great to say that we won the race when Barack Obama, the future president, was here,” she said.