Delta Gamma wins Little 500

What unfolded on the track at Bill Armstrong Stadium on Friday evening was a carbon copy of the 2012 women’s Little 500.

With a heroic effort from senior rider Kayce Doogs, Delta Gamma claimed its second consecutive title, becoming the sixth team in the event’s history to win back-to-back races. Entering the 97th of 100 laps, Kappa Kappa Gamma held a sizeable lead and began its sprint to the finish, though the race was far from decided at that juncture.

Doogs and senior Kappa Alpha Theta rider Kathleen Chelminiak — the two finished first and second in last year’s race, respectively — closed in on Kappa Kappa Gamma on the final lap, engaging in a battle to the finish line.

However, Doogs said she and her team were prepared for that type of exhilarating finish.

“We had a feeling halfway through the race that it was going to come down to a sprint finish,” she said. “It was really windy, and my coaches just told me, ‘you need to sit a wheel and wait to go in turn three.’ Kappa kind of broke away, so we all just chased, and I sat third wheel and went when I had to go.

“It worked out perfect. It was beautiful.”

Prior to the head-to-head sprint finish between Doogs and Chelminiak, overtaking Kappa Kappa Gamma was a challenge in itself and arrived as a surprise to Delta Gamma Coach Pam Loebig.

“It really kind of caught us off-guard, because all of a sudden Kappa had this gap,” she said. “But it worked out well because Chelminiak was chasing and Kayce was right on her wheel.

“We just had to wait it out, and we thought, ‘OK, they’ll catch them in the sprint,’ and she more than caught them in the sprint. She blew by them in the sprint and just left them behind.”

Despite her team’s title chances dwindling with every passing second late in the race, Loebig said she remained confident a victory still wasn’t out of the question, particularly with a rider of Doogs’ caliber on the track.

“This race, just like last year, was exactly to our plan,” Loebig said. “Around lap 70, we started playing endgame and counting laps and deciding who was going to ride what laps. We did it exactly to our plan and it worked out well.”

Entering the race wearing the coveted yellow jersey, Delta Gamma knew it had a target on its back, but the experience of having won last year’s event aided in capturing this year’s crown.

Doogs said the effort she and her team put in during the past year was crucial to Delta Gamma’s ability to repeat.

“It’s incredible,” Doogs said. “We elevated our training even more after winning last year. Some people might think winning once is enough, but it wasn’t enough for us. We wanted to win again.

“It’s amazing because we’ve been planning for this for so long. We’ve pictured in our minds, and it was just a matter of making it come true.”