The warm October night felt more like a beautiful spring afternoon — the kind thousands of fans packing the stands at Bloomington’s Bill Armstrong Stadium for the “World’s Greatest College Weekend” could only hope for.
But Tuesday night didn’t have overflowing grandstands. Or 33 teams lined along the cinder track. Or a green flag waiting to drop.
Instead, four riders rolled toward four separate corners of the quarter-mile oval track.
Then came the whistle.
For 44 heats, the pattern repeated.
Every three minutes one group rolled off the track and another took its place, sending riders in a steady cycle as daylight faded over Bill Armstrong Stadium.
At each corner, the riders were stuck in place to start, held upright on their bikes as they waited to be released. Once released, they didn't immediately take off. Each pushed down hard on the pedals, slowly getting the bike moving as they tried to build momentum.
For the fastest riders, breaking the three-minute mark was never in doubt. Instead, they pushed the clock closer to two and a half minutes as the top of the leaderboard began to take shape.
Kappa Alpha Theta senior Greta Heyl pushed the clock the furthest, finishing with a a time of 2:32.37 to win the fall women’s Individual Time Trials and setting the all-time women’s ITTs record in one fell swoop.
Alpha Chi Omega junior Libby Lewis came just .30 seconds short of Heyl’s record-setting pace, finishing second with a time of 2:32.67.
Lewis first made her name known as a freshman at Bill Armstrong Stadium in 2025, after becoming the first freshman women’s rider to ever win the spring ITTs. As a sophomore in 2026, she nearly repeated, finishing second with a time of 2:37.39, just .37 seconds behind Teter’s then-senior Leila Faraday.
Lewis was also the sprinter on the bike to finish off Alpha Chi Omega’s 2026 Little 500 victory in April — its first ever. On Tuesday, she finished 4.72 seconds faster than her spring 2026 ITT time but still came just short of Heyl.
Behind the two at the top, Sigma Kappa’s senior Bella Shirley finished third with a time of 2:36.63.
Kappa Alpha Theta’s senior Meg Dimmett followed in fourth at 2:37.38, narrowly ahead of Delta Gamma’s senior Morgan Heim, who rounded out the top five at 2:37.56.
Unlike the Little 500 itself, there was no pack for riders to work with Tuesday. Each rider only had four laps and one mile to post her best time.
By the end of the night, Heyl needed just two minutes and 32.37 seconds to make those four laps the fastest in women’s ITTs history.
Women’s top five
Greta Heyl (Kappa Alpha Theta) — 2:32.37*
Libby Lewis (Alpha Chi Omega) — 2:32.67
Bella Shirley (Sigma Kappa) — 2:36.63
Meg Dimmett (Kappa Alpha Theta) — 2:37.38
Morgan Heim (Delta Gamma) — 2:37.56
*All-time women’s ITTs record
