Mini 500

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by Kathy Revtyak Mini 500 participants bike for ry, ii

s darkness descended and the crowd fell silent, a lone spotlight pierced the abyss, its beam catching a hangingrefractive ball and throwing stars throughout Assembly Hall. In the spirit of Mini 500's theme, "Star Trike," the north end of the arena had also been decorated with a large Starship Enterprise. Trikes promised to "...cross the final frontier and trike where no one else has triked before..." littered the three tracks on the Hall's base level. The members of 56 four-person teams anxiously awaited the end of the opening ceremonies as senior Kristin Hori, Steering Committee member of the IU Student Foundation and organizer of the 42nd Mini 500 race, welcomed the 21 men's, 25 women's and 11 co-ed teams to the April 19 event and invited them to line up for introduction to the crowd. Meanwhile, in the two southern tunnels of the Hall, the collage of participating teams cheered, chatted and discussed strategy. Many teams wore matching t-shirts, others donned similar hats and shoes and still others wore creative costumes, such as animal masks and all plaid. Most inconspicuous of all were the Read Beck Buffleheads, outlandishly dressed in bright, mismatched women's clothing, sporting colorful wigs and miniskirts. Despite their outfits, the defending champions of the men's division huddled amid the chaotic cheers to discuss strategy. "The competition here is tough. Our qualifying continued

Junior Jennifer Lantz tries to stabilize her trike after an unsuccessful hand-off from junior Julie Kendrick. Their co-ed team of Pi Kappa Phi - Delta Gamma double fouled with Evans Scholars' co-ed team forcing another run of the heat, which the Evans team won.

Opposite page: Prior to the 8 p.m. start of the Mini 500, team Alpha Gamma Delta awaits their introduction in the south tunnel of Assembly Hall. Teams from all three divisions—Men's, Women's and Co-ed—paraded across the Hall's floor before the event. Photo by Monty Howell.

times weren't that great, so we really have to focus to to pull this thing off again," said sophomore Tom Carter. Carter was one of the four veterans of the team. "But you know," he added, "we really don't know if we can win, because when it boils down to it, this is all about chance and about fun." As he adjusted his miniskirt, he said, "You just can't take things like this too seriously." In jokingly discussing the strategy of his team from the chemistry fraternity Alpha Chi Sigma, senior Trent Johnson conveyed the same desire to simply enjoy himself. "We've got a secret formula we've mixed up—a superpolymer, that is—that we will use to lube the opponent's tracks and wheels," he said with a chuckle. Despite the fun prior to the start of the event, teams were a bit somber as they sat down to watch the beginning of the men's competition. Teams had in fact been practicing for the last four weeks at 20-minute intervals in the Hall to prepare for the April 17 qualifications and the race. To facilitate the ease and safety of their practices, IUSF assured the concrete floor of the past year which had solicited many complaints—had been overlaid with rubber. Senior Scott Warner, member of IUSF, said, "The floor this year is great. I've been a part of this event for the last five years, and never before have the track conditions been so good." Despite that fact, the number of wrecks during the race skyrocketed. And as Carter said previously, the fate of the teams, despite their seeds and skill levels, was decided by the luck of their runs. In the women's race, both the first and second seeds, More Power in the House and Phi Mu respectively, were eliminated early in the race by rough exchanges that resulted in crashes. Delta Gamma, defending champions, surprisingly managed to pull off the win with their all-rookie team. "The pressure was really on us because the final race was an all-greek heat," sophomore Reagan Shea said. "I'm glad we won, though. It was just a lot of fun. We're thrilled." Top seeds in the men's competition were also eliminated early, including the Read Beck Buffleheads. Pi Kappa Phi surprisingly pulled off the win with a track record for the evening, 42.94 seconds. "We obviously weren't expecting to do quite as well as we did, but I guess it came out okay," sophomore Josh Baldwin said with a smile. "I have to confess, though, that we were silently a little cocky. We were disappointed with our low qualifying time, but we knew because of that, we could pull it off." The rookie team of the Bloomington Brewing Growlers upset the Kappa Kappa Psi-Tau Beta Sigma team to capture the co-ed title. Nearly all participants admitted that the Mini 500 was designed for enjoyment and good sportsmanship, despite all of the upsets, crashes and defeated hopes for victory. Warner, who officially held no Steering Committee Position because of his fifth-year status, added that he wouldn't miss the event for anything. "This is just plain, clean fun I just can't emphasize it enough. I mean, where else can you meet so many other cool and crazy people?"

Sophomore Angela Nuccio, a rookie rider for team Kappa Delta, cheers her teammate, sophomore Mindy Jayne on to a first-place finish in the last heat of the Women's Mini 500 finals. Kappa Delta was edged out, however, by Delta Gamma and received second place.