When Josh Mark crossed the finish line and looked up at the scoreboard at Bill Armstrong Stadium, he couldn’t believe it.
The Sammy Cycling team posted a qualifying time of 2:30, more than five seconds faster than they expected and good enough for 14th place in the starting order – a welcome payoff for an unorthodox journey towards the Little 500.
After breaking into the field last year, graduation and time commitments affecting returning riders meant the 2014 team would be full of rookies. Mark, a junior and captain of the team, is still in his first year as a rider.
“I trained a lot in the summer and fall,” he said. “But that was entirely rides on the road, so I didn't really know what to expect when spring semester came around and we got out on the track.”
The entire team had to learn the basics of riding on a track during Rookie Week: from how to ride in a pack to making exchanges and even how to fall correctly.
In the weeks leading up to Quals, Mark knew the team as a whole hadn’t in made enough progress to qualify, whether it was individual speed or problems with exchanges. These are problems to be expected with brand new riders.
A change had to be made - they needed to convince one of last year’s riders to return.
“Myself and (sophomore) Sammy Katz stayed in Bloomington over spring break because, while he rode last year, he hadn’t been on the track all semester,” said Mark, recounting the decision to change their approach. “We figured our fastest Quals team would be with just three riders instead of four.”
It would just be Mark, Katz, and freshman Sam Lansat.
That meant Mark, the only rider to have practiced continuously throughout the year, would have to ride the first and fourth laps. He did, and after looking upwards at the scoreboard and celebrating with the team, they immediately changed mentalities from Quals to the race itself.
While the qualifying time is something they’re proud of, they know the race is a different and much more difficult task.
“We knew right after we qualified we needed a fourth rider for race day,” he said. “The race is simply too long and tiring to have only three riders.”
The team added Matt Lamberti, another freshman who has been training since joining Sammy. While they are confident and proud of how far they’ve come, the team knows it has its work cut out for them with so many riders, and wants to keep their expectations in check. They said that their approach towards the race is simple: “just to do our best and see what happens.”
For Josh Mark, this year’s race is obviously important in itself, and he is excited to experience the start of the race when the stands are full and fans are screaming. However, one of the most important things in his mind is using this race to improve the culture of team support in his house and give them something to be proud of.
“About eight years ago our team actually took the pole for the race and finished fifth, which is a level I would love to see our team get back to,” he said. “But it all starts with support from the brothers and an attitude change.”
“We get a lot of support from our brothers on Quals and will on race day, but I wish it was all year round like that. As a junior, and knowing I am graduating in a year, I want to leave Sammy Cycling in better shape than I found it.”
That campaign begins this Saturday.
-Matt Randall
