Teter, Delta Tau Delta repeat as Team Pursuit champs

Despite a two-hour rain delay that caused a total of 27 teams to not show up Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium, the 2012 Team Pursuit results are in the books.

Delta Tau Delta and Teter repeated as Team Pursuit champions, with the Delts winning their second in a row and Teter members winning their third.

Early Saturday afternoon, Phi Delta Theta and Delta Tau Delta met in their first heat for Team Pursuit. Little did the teams know they would meet again in the finals.

After the Phi Delts won their first matchup, Delta Tau Delta came back and won the finals, finishing the 15-lap race with a time of 9:11.96.

“We actually stuck to the plan this time compared to the first time when we were a bit free-minded,” Phi Delt rider Luke Momper said. “The track got better as the night went on, and as the day went on it dried out, but I think there is a bit of a different atmosphere under the lights at night.

“We had some fans here this time, and you get the whole championship mentality and take it up a notch.”

Delta Tau Delta got off to a fast start in the finals, taking an early four-second lead against Phi Delta Tau.

Though Phi Delta Theta closed the gap to nearly a virtual tie midway through the race, Delta Tau Delta retook a large lead and never looked back, taking the title along the way.

“This one was more about consistency,” Momper said. “We just wanted to be consistent with our numbers and hold the same count the whole time, and it paid off.”

Despite losing in the finals, Phi Delt’s second-place finish ensured the team would receive the Spring Series title with 56 points.

The team members will wear the white jerseys on race day.

Finishing in third place was Little 500 pole-sitter Beta Theta Pi, with the Cutters and Black Key Bulls rounding out the top five.

Meanwhile, three might be Teter’s lucky number this year as it tries for its third consecutive Little 500 crown.

On Saturday, three definitely was a lucky number.

Teter surged to its third consecutive Team Pursuit title with a time of 8:23.99, topping Individual Time Trials and Miss-N-Out champion Kathleen Chelminiak and Kappa Alpha Theta in the finals.

“We train really hard together as a team, and so we are always practicing pace lines together,” Teter rider Emma Caughlin said. “We know each other really well and know when someone feels tired without them actually saying that, so that helped with consistency tonight.”

The Little 500 defending champions dominated throughout the day, passing Army Women during their first heat in an 8:14.49 finish and keeping a steady lead against Kappa Alpha Theta in the finals.

Saturday’s victory also guaranteed Teter the Spring Series title, meaning the team will hold the rights to the white, green and yellow jerseys, the first time for any team since Kappa Kappa Gamma landed the rights in 2005.

“It feels awesome to have all three jerseys,” Caughlin said. “I don’t think we’ve ever done that, and we work really hard, so it feels awesome going into the race with this.”

Rounding out the top five for the women were Wing It Cycling, Delta Gamma and Cru Cycling.

However, a total of 17 women’s teams and 10 men’s teams that were slated to ride did not compete Saturday.

The women will compete in the 2012 Little 500 on Friday night and the men will compete Saturday.

“I don’t know why they decided to scratch,” said Assistant Director of Little 500 races Jordan Bailey. “The weather probably kept them away, but if this were April 20 or 21, we would have ran in the rain.”