The Little 500 Young Guns

Miles Johnson
Athletics dominated Miles Johnson’s life year-round during high school.
In fall, it was soccer. In spring, it was golf.

Johnson was good at both, but he knew he wasn’t Division I university good. When it came time to choose a college his senior year, Johnson based his pick on a tradition from an in-state university: IU’s Little 500.

The Indianapolis native began riding mountain bikes with his dad. He was 14 when he got his first mountain bike, 18 for his first road bike.

At 20, the sophomore biology major is competing in his first Little 500. Although his Phi Kappa Psi team qualified 17th, Johnson placed 10th in Individual Team Trials.

“Having a strong racing background at such a young age really provides me with an advantage over others who don’t have as much racing experience,” Johnson said. 

Although he has yet to experience the race of the Greatest College Weekend, Johnson picked up tips from last years’ top Phi Psi riders, Dan Brown and Adam Mercer.

“I learned Little 500 is all about saving energy,” Johnson said. “I’ll be as lazy as I can be and not lead so I can position myself to go all out.”

Kelsey Tharnsrtom
If you were to find Alpha Chi Omega’s Kelsey Tharnstrom in the moments before a competition, chances are she would have her iPod handy with the one song that always gets her adrenaline pumping: “Remember the Name” by Fort Minor.

This year as a rookie, Tharnstrom placed her name near the top of the leaderboard in her first Individual Time Trial by placing seventh overall with a time of 2:48.13.

Although Tharnstrom has never raced in a Little 500, she is not alone. Every Alpha Chi Omega rider will be riding in the Little 500 for the first time.

While the team will be able to lean on each other for support, Tharnstrom admitted it could be a little intimidating.

“We joke that we are the ‘Cool Runnings’ team on the track,” she said.

This year, Tharnstrom’s talent may help lead her team past some of the inexperience, but she said she believes that growing together with a team of all rookies can help put them ahead after many other top cyclists graduate.

“Hopefully, we can have this same core of girls that stick to it so we can build together and learn from each other,” Tharnstrom said. “Next year, the field of racers will change after all the seniors graduate, so this experience will definitely benefit us.”

Emma Caughlin
Life as a rookie on defending champion Teter Cycling isn’t always easy.

“I have to carry the speakers to listen to music when we go on road rides and have to carry some of our team’s stuff,” Emma Caughlin said.

While the freshman initiation is all in good fun, Caughlin will be one of the key pieces in Teter’s title defense, as she placed ninth in the Individual Time Trials with a time of 2:48.59.

Although Caughlin admitted she will be battling her nerves on race day, she said she will be able to carry over the confidence she gained with her success in ITTs.

“One of the biggest things ITTs taught me is to not doubt myself,” Caughlin said. “Since I placed in the top 10 that means I’m a pretty good rider, so hopefully that’ll carry over on race day.”

For a team that will only lose one senior to graduation after this season, Caughlin said Teter will be strong in the years to come.

This year her strategy is to keep it simple and safe.

“I just want to go out and ride the best I can without causing any wrecks or getting into any wrecks,” Caughlin said. “I just don’t want to hold anything back.”

Dan Kinn
Dan Kinn has never seen Little 500 race day. He’s seen tapes, but watching a pack of riders on television and being a part of one on a cinder track are different experiences.

It’s not that Kinn isn’t used to racing in packs. He missed last year’s race while he was at the University of Pennsylvania competing for the Hoosiers’ track and field team, but he decided being an NCAA athlete wasn’t for him.

“I came to IU for IU,” Kinn said. “I figured I’d give running a chance. It obviously didn’t work out.”

The triple major and his roommates, also former IU runners, wanted to stay active, so they joined a Little 500 team.

Kinn’s older brother is a rider for Phi Psi, but Kinn decided a fraternity wouldn’t be part of his IU experience.

He joined Black Key Bulls and is the new Little 500 rider who provokes the question,
“Who’s that guy?”

The rookie rider, however, has put his name near the top of the Spring Series standings.

He placed 12th in Individual Team Trials and made it to the semifinals of Miss-N-Out, one of only three rookie riders to do so.

“I knew I could do well,” Kinn said about his ITT finish. “I didn’t know I could do as well as I did.”