Teter earns white jersey, record at Team Pursuit

Despite a stormy start to Saturday morning’s Team Pursuit that caused an hour delay, the fast track conditions at Bill Armstrong Stadium made for a record-breaking day.

“(The track) was perfect,” Teter’s Emma Caughlin said. “The rain packed everything down, and then it was sunny afterwards, which dried up all the bubbles and made it really fast.”

With the fast track, Teter came flying out of the gate with a record time of 7:50.11 — 13 seconds faster than its previous record  of 8:03.86 from 2004.

According to Teter’s Caitlin Van Kooten, the record, which advanced them into the final heat against Delta Gamma, had been one of the team’s goals all year.

“I sent them an email in the fall like ‘Hey, I want to do this, this year. Here’s the breakdown in seconds to do it,” Van Kooten said. “I looked at the record and knew our juniors were a lot stronger and our rookies would be really strong, too.”

Van Kooten said a fast start in the first two laps of the 12-lap women’s race put Teter six seconds faster than its targeted time.

“I was like ‘Woah, we need to settle down,’” she said. “But we were able to sustain it throughout the race and only had one lap over 39
seconds.”

Later in the finals, Van Kooten led the team the whole way, as they ultimately defeated Delta Gamma with a time of 8:00.1 — 10 seconds faster than DG’s 8:10.76.

Although Van Kooten pulled the entire race, she said any of Teter’s four riders have the ability to pull, as the team’s advantage lies within its depth and ability to keep pace with its leader.

“I think what really gives us an edge is that we don’t have to trade-off,” Van Kooten said. “It’s more efficient when you don’t have to trade-off. These girls are fast. There’s not a lot of other teams that have three girls that could hold our pace for the entire time.”

Teter’s Lauren Gowdy said the team’s confidence in one another helped them throughout the team event.

“We have a lot of faith in each other,” Gowdy said. “We know that each person is going to do their part.”

DG improved in the final heat and posted time of 8:10.76. Led by senior rider Kelsey Kent, Delta Gamma will own the pole position come April 15 for the Little 500.

While DG won the pole position during qualifications, the win in the Team Pursuit clinched the Spring Series title and the white jersey for Teter. Earlier in the season, Caitlin Van Kooten won both the Individual Time Trials and Miss-N-Out.

As the teams will start one-two in this week’s race, Gowdy said the possibility that Teter and Delta Gamma could both end up on the podium wouldn’t surprise her, but there is no rivalry brewing.

“They have three seniors, so you know they will have been working hard this year,” Gowdy said. “DG has put in a great effort, all of them, but I haven’t heard of any kind of rivalry.”


Final Heat
Teter — 8:00.1
Delta Gamma — 8:10.76