Miss N’ Out to decide race’s top sprinters

At noon Saturday, 260 riders are scheduled to compete in a dead sprint to the finish line.

And only two, one man and one woman, will claim the glory of a title that carries heavy implications come race day: being the best sprinter to compete this year.

Miss N’ Out, a contest in the Little 500 spring series, is set to take place Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium. It is a heat-based elimination event in which riders make their way around the track, with the last rider of each lap after the warm-up falling out of the race until a certain number of riders remain.

“It’s a lot about positioning yourself and getting in good position towards the end,” said Erin Axley, a Kappa Alpha Theta rider and semifinalist last year. “It was once described to us as the musical chairs of bike racing. You just don’t want to be last.”

In 2008, five of eight men’s teams with a rider that made it into the semifinals placed in the top 10 on race day, with the other two placing in the top 15.

On the women’s side, the results are similar, with five of the top 10 spots going to teams with riders in the semifinals and one other placing in the top 15.

“I believe that this series event is most like the actual race,” said Jenna Cerone, last year’s fourth-place finisher at Miss N’ Out and rider for Kappa Delta. “You have to be smart, pay attention to the riders around you and give it all you got.”

This year’s Miss N’ Out competition returns half of the men who made it to the semifinals last year and seven of the 16 women. Nick Sovinski, last year’s men’s third-place finisher and Phi Delta Theta rider, said this makes the event all the more competitive.

“It’s definitely going to be really competitive again,” Sovinski said. “I’m just looking forward to it. It should be just as competitive as last year.”

Two riders who placed in the top three of last year’s men’s contest, Clayton Feldman of the Cutters and Sovinski, return this year to try to claim the title, with sixth-place finisher Matt Kain of Phi Delta Theta also vying for a second year in the finals.

Jordan Bailey, a Black Key Bulls rider who placed fifth at Individual Time Trials this year, said another rider to watch Saturday is Eric Young of the Cutters.

“Eric Young put up a really strong performance in his ITT,” Bailey said. “He was blazing around the track. He’s easily the fastest guy on the track. He’s got the fastest single lap, I would say, by far, so he’s got to be up there, too.”

Cerone and Jackie Moeller of Teter return from fourth- and fifth-place finishes, respectively. In an interesting turn of events, Moeller beat Cerone in the semifinals, but trailed her in the finals.

“I don’t really see a specific rivalry with her,” Cerone said. “Then again, I see any girls besides Kappa Delta as competition when out on the track.”

Axley said Miss N’ Out gives riders a chance to practice in-race strategy and see how other teams compete in a race setting.

“You want to make sure you’re not boxed in,” she said. “You want to be able to move around the pack if need be to get out of sticky spots and make sure you’re not last.”
Miss N’ Out will end at about 5 p.m., when the final heats for men and women will take place.

“Miss N’ Out is the tacticioner’s game,” Bailey said. “If you can play the tactics the best, then you’ll probably go pretty far. You may not win, but you’ll at least go far.”

Sovinski said he plans to do what he did last year and “hope it works out” – that is, he plans to ride as hard as he can and hopes that others will do the same.

“Hopefully, everyone will bring their A-game on Saturday,” he said.