Thursday, March 4, 1976
University Daily Kansan
'Buzzard' Benson flies on track
By GARY VICE
Sports Writer
Knowing that Webster's New World Dictionary defines a bazzard as "slow and heavy in flight," you wouldn't expect to find one competing on the University track.
But there is. KU sprint captain Randy "Buzzard" Benson currently hovers above the entire Big Eight conference after winning the 440-dash dash at the indoor championships last weekend in Kansas City, Mo.
"IT'S GREAT TO BE able to say you are a Big Eight champion," said Benson, who often works out wearing his 'Stud Buzzard' T-shirt. "I felt I had to win for coach (Tad) Win. I owed him a Big Eight win."
Benson, a senior from Buena Park, Calif., said all the sprinters and hurdlers wanted to perform well for Talley, who departed after the meet to become head coach at The City学院, a university in Charlestown, S.C.
henson entered the meet as the basis on the bassist of the 47.5 time he won in the final at Allen Field House's un-banked 220-yard track. Together with teammate Waddell Smith, whose best time was 48.1, the jaywhacks have the 1-2 punch to go for.
HALF OF THE TATOP TOO was nearly lost, however, when Benson stumbled and fell just before his seminal heat Friday night in the 440-yard dash.
"I was out there打磨 and going through a high knee workout," he explained. "I will balance a little and spike spikes on the bottom of my muscles."
"Then, with my foot caught, I crashed to the floor. I was so embarrassed, and everybody started laughing at me. When I tried to stand up, I realized it was serious. I had twisted my stupid ankle again."
BENSON, A TRACK All-American,
had surgery performed last summer on
his left ankle to correct a lesion and
solve his car accident, running
the tight indoor track last year.
After his fall, the Jayhawk's quarter
miler was helped to the trainer's table, where ice was applied to his ankle and tightly wrapped with tape.
In a gutty performance, Benson run in pain to win his qualifying heat, which advanced him to the finals.
I was scared going into the finals," he said. "I had been staying on my leg as much as possible, but it hurt bad when I tested it in warmms before the finals."
EXPLAINING HIS running strategy, Benson said, "At the start of the race I went out in the far lane so I wouldn't get boxed in."
After the first lap, he was running in good position with the leaders when his teammate, Smith, cut in front of Kansas's Chris Muebach, collapsed and fell down.
I saw Waded and Chris fall and I had to hurdle them," he said. "I just hoped Waddell wouldn't rise up and knock me
sports
down. I just closed my eyes and hoped when I hurried him."
UNLike a CLUMSY buzzard, Benson sailed safely over the fallen runners and moved ahead of the field to win the race and the individual championship.
"I'm not afraid of any quarter miler now in the Big Eight," the champion said. "Besides Waddell, there's not that much competition."
Benson also ran a leg on the Jayhawk mile relay team that posted a 3:11.4 clocking, the second best in the country, and qualified for the NCAA championship. Eight meet, he chose to protect his swollen ankle by not competing on the relay.
HE SAID HE ENJOYED running on one of the nation's top mile relay teams; a fact that helped him choose KU over Oregon and HCLA, that interested him Oregon and HCLA.
"It psychs you up to be on a good relay team. You know the other three guys are working their very best, and you don't
"Waddell was a big factor in determining if I would come here. We had been running against each other in junior college, and we wanted to team up."
want to let them down. And you can share in the success.
Both Smith and Benson transferred to KU from junior colleges after their sophomore years of competition. Smith ran at Southwest Junior College in Los Angeles and Benson at Fullerton, Calif., Junior College.
indoors. And after running here, my
knees hurt and hurting from
staying those tug tugs in my
legs.
Benson at 6-5, is tall for most runners, a
bacon that gives him a special problem
runner.
"It limits me indoors a great deal because I really have to fight the turns," he said. "I also had a couple of collisions with my left shoulder on those beams in the back, going around the turns. I usually stay out in the second lane to avoid problems."
Staff photo by DAVE CRENSHAW
Benson's 47.6 quarter mile is among nation's best
KU's Big 8 swim intentions simple, concise
BY KENSTONE
Associate Sports Editor
Bv KEN STONE
It's the most simple and concise statement of intentions you're likely to find. It's a small, neatly folded card sitting in the University of Kansas swimming team's trophy case near the entrance to Robinson Natatorium.
Positioned between two Big Eight swim trophies, the card humbly declares, "This space reserved for the 1978 Big Eight championship swimming championship trophy."
"IT WAS MY IDEA," said KU swim coach Dick Reasonam早该, "I thought it was necessary to give the squaw my vote of confidence. We had a repeat as 1076 Big Eight champions."
Going into the three-day Big Eight championships starting today in Ames, Iowa, Reamon said, KU rated as one of the favorites.
"Iowa states would certainly have to be rated a co-favorite, at best, with us," he said. "They did come close last year—gave us a real scare. And having the meet at home will be an advantage to them, not in the face of so much officiating. I'm very concerned about that."
EQUALLY A CONCERN for Reason is his group of talented freshmen, who, he
said, were "stronger than any freshman class I've ever had here."
Reamon, now in his 15th year as head swim coach, said of his first-year swimmer, a girl who had experienced the experience. And a year ago our main strength was the fact that we did have experience. They were pretty much proven to be good swimmers. It made a great big difference to us."
LAST YEAR, KU went into the last day of the meet—Saturday—trailing the one conference team that had beaten them all year, the Cyclones of ISU.
But the strong performances of swimmers and divers as Gary Kempf, Tom Compton and Mark Hill turned the tide, and he was crowned champion for the eighth consecutive year.
However, even though Kempf, Compton and Hill all return, Reason said he didn't see the Jayhawks taking that many first places titles. And, what's more, he didn't seem too concerned about gold medal winning efforts.
"WE'RE NOT GOING to win it (the meet) on first places," he said, sitting among a pile of swimming magazines and form sheets at his desk on the second floor of Allen Field House. "I think there are places in which we can win, but I can't win it with just the number one man."
To meet that objective, Reason has entered 21 swimmers and divers in 88 events, including relays. Some may swim in five or six events.
two or three people in some events to be able to pick up the balance of the scoring that's necessary to carry an 18-event meet."
"With 12 scoring places, you have to put
Kempf, who leads the conference in the 200-mp backstroke, is entered in nine rounds.
"I TOLD THEM IN our last squad meeting that the difference between 11th and 12th, if that happened two or three times, could mean (losing) the meet, and that we had to in a position to have a peer-perfect meet to win."
Among those athletes who Reamon is depending on the most are distance ace Mike Alley, freshman spinner Bill Dostert, diver Vivek Bilton, Corpom and Ben Wassoner.
Kempf is the defending champion in the 400 individual medley. Alley, who has been held out of the last three meets because of injuries from a car accident, will to score in the distance freestyle events.
REAMON SAID, "BILL Dostert has more speed than anyone we have ever had in our program." Dostert's 22.1 docking in the 50 freestyle and 48.7 in the 100 freestyle are the team's best times and are among the best in the conference.
Hill, who was runner up one-better and three-meter diving competition last year, returns as a first place threat along with Compton, who was second in the 100 breaststroke and third in the 200 breast-stroke last year.
Ben Wagoner is the defending ch rmpion in the 200 individual medley. He'll swim that year's event.
REFERRING AGAIN TO the card in the trophy case, Reamon said, "I think we have a place to put that trophy in terms of the work we've done and the effort we've expended. I think we have the ability. We deserve to retain the title."
"We've done about $80,000 yards of work this year," Reamon said. "They've done at least that. That's a little less than 500 miles each of swimming. They cut their holiday vacation short to return to school for two-a-day workouts."
During that period of hard training, KU lost dual meets to both Missouri and Iowa State. But the loss to the Cyclones didn't bake Reasonam.
"Probably, they more than made up for their loss (of graduating team members) with freshmen Iowa State has excellent teaching depth and balance is far superior to ours.
"But I don't think they have as much accuracy across the board. That's the difference."
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KANSAS CITY (AP)—Two Kansas players were named to the Academic Big Eight Conference basketball team yesterday. Kansas State, Nebraska and Oklahoma State each had one representative on the team.
The two Kansas representatives—Cris
Karwinhoff and Ken Koenig—maintained
their positions.
academic squad, and were named honorary contains of the unit.
Also named to the all-conference academic team were Clark Maughan, Oklahoma State senior in business, who has a 3.81 average; Larry Cox, Nebraska senior in marketing, who has a 3.08 average; and Bobby Noland, Kansas State senior in marketing, who has a 3.08 average.
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