Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Monday, March 18
The Indiana Daily Student

sports

Phi Mu returns to track after wreck

In its first-ever Little 500, Phi Mu found itself in the lead pack with about 30 laps to go.
Then-junior Jeni Gillenwater trailed only three or four others. She and her team were in perfect position to not only finish in the top five, but to win the race.

Qualifying 18th the month before, this was far beyond their expectations. They were just rookies.

Before the race, they figured they would finish top 10 at best, Gillenwater said.

Everything changed on Gillenwater’s fourth turn. Her front tire was clipped, and she lost control.

Gillenwater tumbled to the ground. She lay on the track, covering her head in anticipation of oncoming traffic.

After being trampled by a couple bikes, Gillenwater left with minimal injuries. Scrapes and bruises plastered her body as teammate Jackie Kober replaced her.

“For about five to 10 laps we tried to catch up with the lead pack, but we realized it wasn’t going to work,” Gillenwater said. “Eventually the lead pack caught up with us, so we were a lap down.”

The team ended up finishing 10th, still meeting their expectations for the race.
But with three sophomores, one junior and no experience in the Little 500, they knew immediately that their run wasn’t over.

“We already had our bikes, we already had our uniforms, we already had experienced it once and wanted to be better the next year to prove ourselves,” junior Mackenzie Moore said. “I don’t think there was really a hesitation.”

Gillenwater, now the lone senior on the team, originally put the team together. She said part of the reason she went Greek was to be able to race.

It was summer 2012, and she wanted her Little 500 dream to become reality.

“Although I didn’t bike competitively before, I grew up in Bloomington, so I always knew about the Little 5,” Gillenwater said. “I watched the movie ‘Breaking Away’ and everything, and I just wanted to be a part of it.”

Phi Mu didn’t have a team in 2012, so Gillenwater had to convince freshmen Kober, Moore and Gretchen Mann to complete her team.

All four were athletes in high school, but together they had no racing experience.

With their training the next summer, the four began a new era of Phi Mu cycling.

“In the greek system, biking is valued and everyone wants to have a good Little 5 team,” Gillenwater said. “Some houses are known for always having good biking teams, and we thought it would be really cool for Phi Mu to be known as one of those houses.”

Since last year’s race, they have trained harder than ever, with their sights set on finishing in the top five this year.

A month and a half ago, though, it was uncertain whether they would all be competing together.

Kober was attending a CRU convention in Indianapolis. While dancing, she heard a pop in her knee. She was carried off the floor and found out the next day she had torn her ACL.

“I was there when it happened,” Mann said. “I’ve torn both of my ACLs, and just anything where you can’t put weight on your leg is just like a red flag to me.”
For a couple weeks all Kober could do was swim. By the third week, she started doing intervals on the stationary bike.

By week four, she was biking like nothing had ever happened, her teammates said.
“I told her once before, but ‘If you for some reason decide you’re not racing on race day, I’ll just give up my position for you so you can ride,’” Gillenwater said. “She just fights for it so much.”

Kober was ready in time for the team’s nine-day spring break biking trip to Florida, where they did their last preparations for 2014 Little 500 qualifications.

Phi Mu qualified sixth this year. Gillenwater and Kober were both in the top 20 of the Individual Time Trials, placing 11th and 18th, respectively.

Gillenwater said with what her team has overcome, nothing can stop them.

Last year’s disappointment serves as all the motivation they need for the race, she said.

“I want to win the race this year,” Gillenwater said. “I’m still bummed to this day. We were so close, being in fourth or fifth place when we went down. I know this year we can be better.”

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe