University Daily Kansan Friday, April 20,1956
KU Track Coach Bill Easton Warns 'Look Out For Iowa'
Before the Texas Relays, almost two weeks ago, track coach Bill Easton had little idea his squad would walk off with six first places and two records, tying Oklahoma A&M's performance of last year at Austin.
But instead of publicly praising his own squad, Easton was thinking of other entries in Friday and Saturday's Kasas Relays. "Lock out for Iowa," he warned. "They have good distance runners."
If there's anyone who is capable of recognizing promising distance runners, it's Bill Easton. Since 1949, Coach Easton's long distance teams have won ten Kansas relays titles. Six have been in the four-mile relay.
At Kansas championship distance met like Karnes. Semper and Santee possessed an iron will to go en running when fatigued threatened to slow them down. Easton said, adding that the "third period of any hard race is when fatigue
threatens—the period when real determination is needed to keep running to win."
"Great track teams are a result of strong leadership from men who aren't afraid to put out," he said. "A man must be able to recognize the threat of fatigue, be strong enough to meet the challenge and then overcome it. There is no greater reward for a man than to run until a feeling of goodness spreads over him."
Easton said a trainer can correct minor errors in form, but a rurer's rhythmic style is natural and cannot be changed "radically." Herb Semper had such a rhythm. he said.
In a slightly different vein he remarked that loss of sleep and a consequent loss of nervous energy is probably the worst physical threat before a race.
Easton, a graduate of Indiana University, ran the quarter-mile for the great distance trainer, Billy Hayes. He came to Kansas in 1947
BILL EASTON
from Drake University after winning three national cross-country championships there. Before assuming his coaching duties at Drake, Easton coached at Hammond High School in Indiana, where his teams won five state titles while losing but eight dual meets.
Summerfield Scholar Frame Holder Of 3 Track Records
Summerfield scholar Al Frame is the only man in the history of the Big Seven conference—including the old Missouri Valley conference—to hold the indor 880, mile, and two-mile titles.
Heading Coach Easton's distance stable for the second year, Frame has a list of records and running bonors that alone would fill a page. Probably the most notable, and what he considers as one of the highpoints of his running career, is the 1954 NCAA cross-country championship, with the fourth fastest time in the history of that meet. 19:54.2.
Frame also is proud of his double win in the Big Seven indoor meet last March, when he dropped out of the two-mile event and ran the 880, in the fastest time by a league runner last spring. Earlier he captured the mile, giving him first-place medals.
He doesn't worry too much about conference competition this season, but feels the team should be more concerned about a national championship. "The team should be thinking
"The team should be thinking
about winning the national championship this year," he said. "You have to 'think' you can do it, before you really can. This is our year. We have two NCAA champs and we are strong in both field events and the distance races."
Low Of 4:14.7
In the Big Seven outdoor meet last year, Frame captured both the mile and two-mile, running the mile in 41:65 and the two-mile in 9:27.9.
He won the Big Seven indoor mile in 1955 in 4:26.7, and has a personal low time for the mile of 4:14.7 against Kansas State that same year.
Coach Easton thinks Frame has done an excellent job of overcoming a serious obstacle, saying, "Al has worked hard and has overcome one of the toughest handicaps a runner faces." He is a team leader. He has been a real asset to the team, and has done a real job of leading the distance sound."
His plans for the future include working for a doctorate degree in American Civilization. Throughout his four years at KU he has maintained a 2.5 grade average.
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