Run No. 1 — fault.
Run No. 2 — fault again.
Fault a third time and they’d be disqualified. For one last shot at making the Little 500 field, IC would now have to wait until the end of the day when all other teams had ?finished.
After a lengthy delay due to poor track conditions, it was after 10 p.m. IC was the very last run of the day. The majority of the riders and fans had gone home.
With 33 teams and 33 spots, all IC had to do was finish its four laps.
So the riders went slowly. They were extra careful with their exchanges, making sure not to even come close to breaking a rule. When they crossed the finish line, IC celebrated like they had just won the race. They took a picture with their qualification time plaque and then more photos with friends and supporters.
That plaque was placed at No. 31 on the leaderboard. It wasn’t pretty, but at least they were in.
It’s Independent Council’s first-ever year with a team in the Little 500, and all six riders are rookies.
“I think in the beginning we set our expectations a little high,” sophomore Geraldine Pattengale said, looking back on when the team was first formed.
That was the beginning of 2014. Independent Council, a social philanthropic organization for non-greek women, finally had the funds to start a team in its fifth year of ?existence.
Junior Morgan Robertson founded the team. She received a lot of interest from other girls, originally, about 15 wanted to join. That was quickly diminished to eight though, and at the end of the fall semester, IC lost two more riders.
But it was enough to field a team. The teammates’ desires to be in the Little 500 all came from different places. For one woman, it was something outside of her comfort zone. For another, watching the women’s race last year made her want to get involved. For some, they played sports in high school and were looking to be part of team again.
All of them had one thing in common — they’d all be part of IC’s founding team.
“It’s been really inspiring in a lot of different ways to watch them handle the amount that I ask of them,” alumna coach Nathan Harbison said. “I know it’s hard, I know its stressful, and they always seem to manage in one way, shape or form.”
IC has had to learn on the fly. They felt prepared physically, but there was a lot they didn’t know about the Little 500. It’s common for riders to schedule their classes around track time in the spring. No one on Independent Council did that, they said.
Learning as they went meant figuring out a training schedule, how often to go to the gym to workout and how often to be out on the bike. When they’re at the track, it’s important to make sure at least two girls are there at once to practice exchanges.
“We are just doing it live,” Harbison said. “They have the endurance and the ability, it’s just the fine details that experienced riders have that’s the disadvantage.”
Senior Anna Chapman, co-president of IC, called this year a base year for the team. They don’t expect to be great right away, but it’s a foundation for years to come.
For now, they’re content with being a part of it.
And they take comfort in knowing it’s the first time for all of them — they have nothing to lose.
“No matter how stressed out I was before practice, I leave it laughing nonstop,” Chapman said. “You leave on this Little 500 high.”
