Kappa Alpha Theta wins record ninth title in Women's Little 500

BLOOMINGTON — Kappa Alpha Theta closed out a record ninth title in the Women's Little 500 on Friday afternoon in dominant fashion.

They built up a significant lead over the field and led for the final 40-plus laps of the 36th running of the race. It was the team's first title since winning back-to-back championships in 2017-18.

There was a sprint to the finish for second place with Teter edging out Delta Gamma for second place and a Melanzana team looking for a three-peat.

"It doesn't feel real," Kappa Alpha Theta's Audrey La Valle said.

La Valle helped her team win the Little 500's spring series as the first women's cyclist since 2011 to win all three Spring Series events: ITTs, Miss N Outs and Team Pursuit.

It was an emotional moment for La Valle who has competed in the event since she was a freshman and was part of a series of close finishes. Her brothers Albert and Andrew also competed in the race for Phi Kappa Psi and gave up a lead on lap 199 in 2019.

La Valle's teammates surrounded her in the infield at Bill Armstrong Stadium chanting "the curse is broken" while jumping up and down before going to the podium.

"I think above anything else, it's really, really cool because she out of anyone I know deserves this," sophomore Bailey Cappella said. "She puts so much work day-in-and-day-out. She's helped continue the legacy that Theta is. None of us would be the bikers that we are without her today. To be able to have her cap off that four-year (career) — she won ITT, she won Miss N Outs and we won Team Pursuit — to win the race?"

"That goes down in the history books and she deserves it. It's just so cool to do that for her."

Kappa Alpha Theta breaks out from the pack in the Little 500

The lead regularly changed hands during the first 40 laps with at least 10 teams taking turns in first place. There was a brief moment where Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Gamma worked together as they separated from the pack, but by the 60th lap Kappa Alpha Theta cemented a nearly insurmountable lead.

They built nearly a full lap advantage and were 30 seconds ahead of the peloton as it looked to close out the win. Only three other teams — Delta Gamma, Teter and Melanzana — were on the same lap with 10 laps remaining in the race.

Kappa Alpha Theta did a series of exchanges during that final stretch with Cappella taking over with three laps to go. It was a full circle moment for Cappella, who also opened the race for her team.

"I'm going to have to watch the race again," Cappella said with a laugh, when asked how their lead developed. "It was a really dry track. It was kind of a dangerous race starting out at the beginning with the amount of teams, track conditions and just kind of being able to seize the opportunity."

According to Cappella, her team decided to go all-out when Delta Gamma went for an exchange on the 57th lap.

"I think we knew we had the power to do that and push through and bring it home," Cappella said."...There was this gap, and it was like let's just put it all out on the line, if something happens we went down trying. You'd rather go all-out."

Kappa Alpha Theta's freshman stays calm in pressure filled moment

Heyl was just four laps into her first ever exchange in the Little 500 when she was involved in a wreck. She was the lone freshman on the Kappa Alpha Theta team this year, but she showed off veteran instincts when she went down on the course's cinder track.

The crash came on the first turn of the 18th lap.

"I was on Teter's wheel, and we were holding a good pace and it was just unlucky," Heyl said. "They went down and unfortunately I couldn't maneuver out of the way quick enough. I just remembered Audrey telling me if there was a fall get right back up as if nothing happened and that's what I did."

The wreck left Heyl with a torn pair of cycling shorts and a visible gash on her hip.

"I couldn't feel anything," Heyl said. "I think it was all the adrenaline."

She credited her background in soccer for helping her handle the moment. While her coach asked her if she needed to come out, Heyl finished out her set.

"I got knocked down a lot and all you had to do was get back up," Heyl said, with a laugh. "That's what I did."

After the race, Heyl's teammates praised her poise.

"Textbook," Cappella said. "You get back up, you run and get back on the bike. You work hard and get on that gap, she zoomed and got us back up there. That helped us dictate the rest of the race."

The only scare Kappa Alpha Theta had came at the midway point in the race when La Valle was approaching the starting line with Teter right riding right behind her. Cappella was watching on waiting for an exchange when Teter's Jess DiBella lost control of her bike.

"I don't know if their rider hit Audrey's back wheel or what," Cappella said. "Things can happen, teams ahead of you can crash, you never know until you cross that finish line."

The celebration that ensued left Heyl in awe.

"Our alumni network is so strong, the minute I joined the team it was such an honor who I was representing," Heyl said. "I'm just so happy we could win this year for them, so many of them came to watch the race. It's been so cool. I'm just so lucky I get three more years of this."

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Kappa Alpha Theta dominates Women's Little 500 to win ninth title