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Teter had the fastest time for the women, winning the pole position – the best starting position on race day – with an unofficial time of 2:39.45. Sigma Alpha Mu, a team who finished 11th in last year’s race, earned the first-place green jersey for the men with an unofficial time of 2:23.20. VIDEO: Qualifications
While many college students decided to use spring break as a time for relaxation, partying and fun, riders participating in the Little 500 had only one goal in mind: preparing for race qualifications Saturday.\nIn order to qualify for the women’s race on April 11 and the men’s on April 12, each team must complete four laps around the track while successfully performing clean exchanges of the bike between riders. An exchange has to occur after each lap and the fastest combined times will determine the starting positions for the race. In addition, the teams with the better qualification times will select earlier their pit locations and color of jerseys.\n“I think (qualifications) will be pretty intense,” said sophomore and first year rider J.T. VanCleave of CRU Cycling. “With all of the different teams around you trying to make it, it will be a little nerve-racking.”\nSenior and second-year rider Ryan Hobley of Sigma Nu believes coming together as a team is the most important factor for a top finish.\n“We just want to make sure that our timing is down and do all of the little things to make it a successful qualification run,” Hobley said.\nFor most teams, the hardest part on Saturday will be achieving clean and fast exchanges of the bike on all four laps. After the completion of a lap, the finishing rider will exchange the bike to the next rider within a 32-foot zone – the distance of two pits. Rules state that the new rider must be fully in control of the bike by the time the rear wheel crosses the second line, or their attempt will not count. The same rules apply if the bike falls to the ground or if the rider falls. \nEach team will have three attempts to complete the four laps and make successful exchanges, or if they will not qualify to ride in the race. For both the men’s and women’s races, only a maximum of 33 teams are able to compete. \n“You can be as fast as you want, but if you can’t pull off an exchange, it’s pointless,” Pi Kappa Alpha junior Kirk Weesner said.\nSecond-year rider and IU alumna Jaime Boswell of Wing It said timing is everything.\n“You have to watch your lines and judge how fast you are coming in,” she said. “The hardest part is getting your timing down.”\nRecent poor weather conditions have limited track time for riders, greatly affecting the learning experience of rookie participants.\nBoswell believes the weather conditions will affect the speed of the race on Saturday more than anything else.\n“When you are out here with 25 mile per hour winds, you are not getting enough speed practice in,” Boswell said. “A lot of people are not used to how fast they will be going for Qualifications.”\nDespite the limited practice time on the track, riders are eager to get out and show what they have worked on these past few months.\n“We want to make sure all of our exchanges are clean, everything goes smoothly and that we qualify for the race,” sophomore and first-year rider Amber Pochron of Delta Delta Delta said.
While many college students decided to use spring break as a time for relaxation, partying and fun, riders participating in the Little 500 had only one goal in mind: preparing for race qualifications Saturday.
Rookie Week on Monday begins on Monday, kicking off Little 500 season as first-year riders to learn about basic rules of the event, fundamental racing techniques and tips on how to stay safe on the track.
Until now, training for riders participating in the Little 500 has taken place in indoor facilities and country roads. But with the start of Rookie Week on Monday, Bill Armstrong Stadium will officially open for first-year riders to learn how to ride on the track that can make them famous. \nRookie Week, the first major event in the Little 500 season, is an eight-day training session for first-year riders. Beginning Feb. 11 and ending Feb. 20, the training session will educate participants about basic rules of the event, fundamental racing techniques and tips on how to stay safe on the track. \nLeading the event are members of the IU Student Foundation Riders Council, experienced race participants who volunteered to teach the fundamentals of the Little 500 to rookies. \n“We want them to get a base knowledge and understanding on the rules of the track,” said Little 500 Race Director Matthew Ewing. “If the Riders Council does (its) job well, then the rookie riders will at least have a base understanding of the key components they need before the track opens for veterans.” \nNon-rookie riders can begin using the track Thursday, Feb. 21. \nIn order to compete in the April event, first-year riders must be present for 100 percent of the two-hour and 15-minute weekday sessions held separately for men and women. Exceptions are made only for school-related conflicts. After the completion of Rookie Week, participants must be at 75 percent of the possible track hours until race day, or a team penalty will be enforced. \nPhi Delta Theta junior and Riders Council member Matt Kain said he is ready to teach the first-year riders the basic skills they will need on the track come April.\n“It allows us to teach the rookies how to safely do exchanges and ride in a pack at a slower rate,” Kain said. “Once the veterans come it becomes faster and people get a little more aggressive.”\nOn Monday, first-year riders will be given an introduction of what to expect for the week. They will also view a film about the history of the event and take a test on the general rules of the race.\nBeginning Tuesday, rookies will progressively learn skills such as getting on and off of the bike and riding in a pack of racers. As the week goes on, riders will learn how to make exchanges and practice track etiquette.\nFour-year rider and Alpha Omicron Pi member Emily Svendsen thinks Rookie Week will be very beneficial to her team, a 10-person squad with seven first-year participants. \n“Little 500 is all about etiquette,” Svendsen said. “I think they will be very well prepared and much smarter because of Rookie Week.”\nKappa Kappa Gamma sophomore and first-year rider Kate Krieger said she hopes to gain experience from the practice on the track.\n“I am excited to be on the track for the first time,” Krieger said. “It will be good to meet the other riders and really understand what Little 500 is all about.” \nBut while some riders are fully ready to start the process, others may be a little hesitant.\n“I am a little nervous because I have never gone through anything like this before,” said freshman Chris West, a rookie rider for Phi Delta Theta. “After Rookie Week I hope to be much more ready for the race. Being involved in something that is such a big part of Indiana University history is exciting.”
Alpha Epsilon Pi, a traditionally competitive fraternity in the Little 500 race, will be without a team this year as a result of the two-year ban placed on the fraternity Wednesday. \n“One of the cool things about joining a fraternity is participating in Little 500,” said freshman and AEPi member Jonah Murov. “It is very disappointing because I had been looking forward to it for a couple of years now.”\nLittle 500 rules state that if riders leave a fraternity or ride for an independent team and want to change affiliations, they technically have to sit out a year, said senior and former AEPi rider Michael Retter. But because the AEPi team hasn’t officially registered yet, members of the fraternity’s bike squad can race on an independent team without the year-long wait. However, the riders left without a team haven’t decided what they’ll do.\nRetter and senior Tom Askey, riders from last year’s AEPi 22nd-place team, decided to leave the fraternity in the fall largely because of their growing fear of the allegations that could have kept them from riding in the spring event. \n“Last semester, when things were going on with AEPi, we filed an appeal with the Little 500 to disband and ride as an independent team, and that was accepted,” Retter said. “The big thing for us was representing something that supported us, and that we supported, and that is one reason we filed the appeal. With all the things going on, it wasn’t something that we were able to justify riding for.”\nThose riders, along with seniors Scott Robertson and Scott Glidden, created an independent team, “Ride DMC,” in order to continue participating in the historic race.\n“It ends up being the best case now,” Retter said. “We have an extremely close bond, have trained harder than ever before, and finally have a team with a lot of experience. So it is going to be an exciting year for us.” \nWithout Retter and Askey, the AEPi team had only one returning rider from last year: sophomore Jason Kahn. Even though he fully supported his former teammates’ decisions to leave the fraternity, Kahn rebuilt the team in hopes of racing once again. Kahn added junior Brian Lieberman and freshmen Brett Silverstein and Zach Gorton as teammates.\n“There were several reasons I wanted to start up the team,” Kahn said. “One, I personally wanted to represent AEPi and bring some good to our house. We are still part of that organization, and I wasn’t ready to disaffiliate just yet ... I wanted to start a team that we could pass down and become a contender in years to come. We said to ourselves ‘We are not going to let this program die,’ if we make it through the year.”\nBut with AEPi’s recent expulsion from campus, whatever hope the team had of representing its house is gone. If riders choose to compete in the race, they can still register with, or as, an independent team. \n“We are not really sure what we are going to do, so right now it is still being discussed about whether we want to go independent or not,” Silverstein said. “(Riding in the Little 500) was something that I thought would be a very cool thing because it is so unique. But I was also doing it to ride with the letters AEPi on my chest and now that we are not a fraternity anymore, it took away from it a bit.”\nNevertheless, the team is looking forward to the idea of possibly being a part of the event.\n“We might just help Michael (Retter)’s team out – become alternates, mechanics,” Kahn said. “Little 500 last year was amazing. We just really want to be part of it.”
Alpha Epsilon Pi, a traditionally competitive fraternity in the Little 500 race, will be without a team this year as a result of the two-year ban placed on the fraternity Wednesday.
The IU men’s soccer team is known as one of the top Division I soccer programs in the nation, with seven national titles and 12 Big Ten regular season titles. But this year, IU club soccer is on the rise as well.\nEntering the regional tournament Oct. 27 and 28, the men’s club soccer team was the top-ranked team in the Midwest region, with a near-perfect record of 11-0-1. Despite beating Purdue 3-1 in the opening round and tying Dayton 0-0, the extra momentum gained in the regular season was not enough to overtake 2006 defending national champion Michigan, and IU lost 3-1 in the semi-finals. \nWhile a loss could have had a negative effect on the previously undefeated Hoosiers heading into the Collegiate Soccer Sport Club Championships in November, senior midfielder Drew Thomson said he thinks otherwise. \n“(The loss) will give players something to build on,” Thomson said. “Playing a team as good as Michigan will give us the experience we need come Nationals.”\nIU is coming off a successful 2006 campaign during which they reached the National Quarterfinals before losing to eventual champions Michigan 2-0.\n“The main difference from last year is our depth,” said junior midfielder Andy Kushnir. “Last year as starters, we weren’t able to get off the field for much rest. But this year, we have guys who can come off the bench and give us a spark.”\nContributing to the team’s success has been a new, “flat-back four” defensive scheme implemented by head coach Nick Tiemann. Compared to last season’s “diamond” setup, there are four defenders across the team’s back line without a sweeper, providing more attacking versatility.\n“(The defense) allows us to swing the ball across the field and start our offense from the back, rather than just have the sweeper clear it,” said sophomore midfielder Alex Boler. \nSophomore goalie Steve Smith has also played consistently throughout the season with eight shutouts in 12 regular season games and a .42 goals against average.\nOffensively, Boler leads IU with 10 goals and six assists on the season. He is followed by freshman forward Zac Adda, who has five goals and three assists, and freshman midfielder/forward Nate Stern, who has five goals and two assists. \n“I practiced every day this summer on a club team in my hometown,” Boler said. “With some of my teammates playing Division I soccer, playing with them has made me step up and work harder.” \nThe team outscored its opponents this season 42-5.\nBut despite its recent success, the team is working harder than ever to improve on weaknesses that might hinder its shot at winning a national championship. \n“We outshot our opponents by a large margin, but we need to put the ball in the back of the net,” Stern said.\nAnother issue on the minds of some players is communication, which junior defender Sam Delisio said is vital during play.\n“We need more talking in the back,” Delisio said. “If we communicate and stay aggressive, we will be fine.”\nThe team is confident that its hard work will be worth it.\n“Our goal is a national championship,” said senior forward David Amaya. “When we play our game, no one can beat us.”
George Hutchinson, chair of the English department at IU, was awarded the prestigious Christian Gauss Award for literary scholarship and criticism for his book, “In Search of Nella Larsen: A Biography of the Color Line.” \nThe award, presented by the Phi Beta Kappa Society, is given to only one book each year and is the highest possible accolade in this field of study. \nIn addition to the recognition, Hutchinson will be presented with $10,000 in prize money – the highest amount given for a single book award, Hutchinson said – at a Dec. 7 ceremony in Washington D.C..\n“I was overjoyed when I first heard the news,” Hutchinson said. “It is probably the most prestigious and competitive award for literary criticism. When you look down the list of past winners, it is a pantheon of great scholars.”\nHutchinson’s book was published in 2006 and is a biography of the distinguished, but socially denied, Harlem Renaissance novelist Nella Larson. \nLarson was born to a Danish mother and a black West Indian father in 1891 in Chicago. She lived during a time of tremendous hostility toward mixed-race marriages and wrote about her tough experiences as a biracial woman. While at the time she received little acknowledgment for her novels, Larson would later go on to be known as one of the greatest black writers of her generation. \nHutchinson’s work deals with the notion of the color line and its effect on American culture from the 1890s to the present.\nThe author initially wanted to write a book on interracial literature and its effect on American culture, but decided to focus on the life of Larson after he found she was misrepresented in other biographies. \n“When I started reading other biographies, I began thinking that (the authors) lacked evidence for their conclusions,” Hutchinson said. “I did some research and found that many facts were misinterpreted. Someone had to set the record straight.”\nThe book ultimately took nine years to research and write, and this time, Hutchinson made sure Larson’s life was presented accurately. \nIn order to obtain information, he traveled the world to nearly every location Larson ever visited: Denmark, New York, Chicago, Spain, France, Tuskegee University in Alabama and Fisk University in Tennessee. \n“Everywhere I went, I discovered something new,” Hutchinson said of his research. “It was a lot of fun. If you are inventive and determined, it’s amazing what you can find.” \nProfessors at IU are also now using “In Search of Nella Larson” as a teaching material for their students. \nIn the “Variations on Blackness” course offered by four different departments – American Studies, African-American Diaspora Studies, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies – graduate students read the book as part of the class. \n“The students really loved the book because it focuses on recovering a woman’s life,” said Associate Professor Matthew Guterl, who teaches the course. “George’s book was a touchstone for our conversations about identity, color and race. It is one of the most important biographies written in the last five to ten years.”\nThe book also gained world-wide recognition from scholars. \nHutchinson served as the keynote speaker at a May 2006 conference titled “Denmark and the Black Atlantic,” organized by the English department, Germanic and Romance Studies at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. \nSam Esquith, awards coordinator for the Phi Beta Kappa Society, said Hutchinson’s book beat out more than 30 competing titles to claim the honor.\n“This book goes places previous work has not gone,” Esquith said. “For people looking at Nella Larson, it will become the new standard.”
In case you can't make the trip to Kalamazoo this weekend, like myself, Under The Rock will feature a live blog Saturday night with frequent game updates.
