University Daily Kansan, April 22, 1983
Page 7
Preparations for Relays never end for track secretary
By SUSAN WORTMAN
Staff Reporter
The door of the track of office opened and two runners — Nike running shoes hanging from their shoulders — strolled in. They didn't want anything in particular. They were just killing time before practice.
Four other men were already wandering around the track office in sweats and cowboy boots. Two more added to the crowd already in the office didn't matter. The more the merrier.
"Gindy, where is it? I can't find it anywhere," said Steve Kuefer, assistant men's track coach. The phone began ringing.
THE DOOR OF THE office opened again and another athlete came in. He disappeared into a back office and appeared again, carrying a javelin. The phone was still ringing.
From behind an open office door came another voice.
"Cindy, Cindy — do we have anything on Sam Meritis? Cindy?"
Cindy Wampler, KU track secretary, takes time out from her typing to answer one of the many phone calls she receives daily. Wampler was making arrangements for the Kansas Relays.
A small man in a brown vest and pants walked out of the office. Head coach Bob Timmons stood in the middle of room watching the secretary.
"Are you convinced that this is a ooey yet?" asked Cindy Wampier, 24-year-old secretary for the Kansas men's track program.
"Actually, this is relatively calm." She laughed, and the phone rang again.
"Hello. This is Cindy. Yes, everyone wants to know if this will qualify them for the Boston Marathon. I'll check."
GETTING READY FOR the Kansas Relays is a year-round process for Wammler.
"It starts in the summer, filling out forms and typing. In January the snowball really starts rolling. Then the month before is total chaos. After you lose all of your money, there's a deep breath and it is like going under water. You either sink or swim."
When it comes to the Relays, Wampler does a little of everything. She is involved in every aspect from the food for the athletes to the opening
"'touch base on everything and I have a hand in everything but I don't follow through with anything. The committee does all of that. Thank goodness," she said, and sighed.
"WHEN YOU ARE dealing with 1,700 athletes, you just can't do it all by yourself."
Wampler is referring to both the Student Relays Committee and the Greater Relays Committee, which is made up of area merchants who want to be involved in the Relays. They divide up the work that goes into the track meet, each taking a part and then planning for it.
she also handles the details for the Relays banquet — planning it, getting the invitations out, arranging the catering and sending the tickets out.
Then there are the meetings.
"That is probably the most nerve wracking part of the whole job," Wampler said, pointing to the phone sitting on her desk. "I never answer the phone at home."
The phone rang again.
Wampler said that this year was more hectic than others, Working with the Soviet team has made scheduling more difficult. However, Wampler has not had to deal with that. The Athletes United for Peace has handled the arrangements of getting the Russian team to the Relays.
This also is a hectic time of the year for the track department. To complicate things more, April 13 was the day to sign new track recruits. So, in the middle of the Relays activity, Wampler also types the national letters of intent.
WAMPLER GRADUATED from KU in 1980 with a degree in music education. When she was a student at KU, she played the clarinet in the marching band.
"I really got into that, being around all the athletes and the football stadium. I always bought season tickets. But, I have to admit, I never went to the Kansas Relays in college. Can you believe that?"
After she had finished her student teaching, Wampler's husband was still working on his master's degree in accounting and took the job and took the position at the track office.
"When I came in January, Timmie thought I would leave right away. I started right in the middle of all of this mess," she said.
SHE STARTED AS SECRETARY in 1980, in the middle of preparations for the Relays.
"When I started, the only thing I knew about track was how to spell the word. Well, I guess in sixth grade I was in track," she said.
"I like working here. They make me feel like part of the team. They want me to go to the Big Eight Track Meet When you understand your goals, you run. If it isn't something I like have to do, but something that I want to do."
The people on the track team are friends of hers. They stop by the office, just to talk.
"I feel like a bartender — I try to understand and just listen. Sometimes they ask for advice. That's pretty motherly, isn't it?"
"THE COACHES ARE just great. I love to work with them. Except, sometimes I would like to strangle Timmie," she said, laughing.
"We have this running joke about him losing things. Once I gave him the original of the track schedule and he lost it. He said, 'Never give me the original of anything, I always lose things.' Now, I make five copies of everything."
Track, for most people, is a seasonal sport. Not for Wampler. It is a never-ending process. As soon as the Relays are over, preparations will start on the Big Eight Cross Country meet. At the cross country meet it is over work will start on the indoor meeting come in January. Then it will be Relays time again.
"LAST YEAR WHEN I came in on Monday after the Relays, Timmie said. Well, it is time to get started on next year's Relays. I thought he was joking but he was taut. While it is still fresh in our minds it is time to start again."
But this is the big weekend. Today, Wampler will be in the office answering the phone. Tomorrow she will be at Memorial Stadium, running errands and taking care of details. But not all day.
And the weekend after that?
and the weekend.
"I'm going to the Big Eight meet in Stillwater. I'm always jealous because the athletes get a tan, so I'm just going to lay out and get a tan and enjoy the meet."
ABOUT THEN, THE phone rang again and a young man in shorts wandered in.
"I need some forms."
"What forms?" she asked.
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"Oh, I don't know. They just sent me down here and said that you would know. They're the ones with the little blue lines."
She laughed.
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