THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2006 WWW.KANSAN.COM
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 5B
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Chesang's showing difficult to predict
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
KANSAN SPORTS EDITOR
MPHILLIES@KANSAN.COM
You think figuring out this year's football team is hard?
That's basic arithmetic compared to figuring out Benson Chesang.
Tomorrow at Rim Rock Farm (see map, 5B), Chesang, Eldama Ravine, Kenya, senior, will attempt to win his thirdstraight Big 12 Conference Cross Country title.
It would be a fitting way for a tremendous runner to finish his career, and all of it in front of a home crowd.
But there's a problem. So far this season he hasn't been the best runner in the conference. He hasn't even been the best runner on his own team.
After his second Big 12 title last October, he decided to redshirt during the spring track season. Since coming back, his speeding-bullet times have become much more pedestrian.
This year he was held out of the first two races, in an attempt to keep him fresh for the later part of the season. In his first race of the year, at the Roy Griak invitational in Minneapolis, Chesang finished 44th.
At his only other meet, the NCAA Pre-Nationals two weeks ago, he finished in 30th place overall, and third among KU men. So which Benson is coming to Rim Rock tomorrow?
"I'll definitely get there by the end of the year," he said. "But I can't say I'm really in that peak shape right now."
Nobody is denying his talent. His Big 12 titles and national tournament appearances speak for themselves. The only question is whether he'll be motivated.
"My goal is to perform well at national meets," he said. "And maybe even this Big 12 meet." This Big 12 meet is one of the most important things to happen to the Jayhawks in some time. By showcasing Rim Rock Farm well, the school could qualify to host NCAA tournaments in the future.
In addition, the team will have possibly its best chance ever to unseat Colorado, who has won the Big 12 Cross Country championship for 10 straight years.
And how did Chesang spend his redshirt semester?
"I ran a little bit," he said.
"But I just sat on my butt most of the time."
On Friday morning we'll see which Benson Chesang comes to Rim Rock Farm. The two-time Big 12 champion, biochemistry major, and one of the best Jayhawk runners ever. Or the Benson Chesang that finished 44th and 30th this season, and won't say whether he is the best runner on the team.
"I think Benson is as talented as anybody," coach Stanley Redwine said. "The best runner is the one that is going to show where he's at mentally and physically."
And if that's not Benson, we can always get him a football uniform.
Phillips is a Wichita senior in journalism. He is Kansan sports editor.
Edited by Natalie Johnson
Steve Heffernan takes care of Rim Rock Farm, the home course for the Kansas cross country team. Heffernan lives at Rim Rock with his family to keep it in shape. He also coaches and teaches at Lawrence Free State High School.
CARETAKER DEDICATES LIFE TO KEEP CROSS COUNTRY COURSE IN SHAPE
BY C.J. MOORE
It was 28 degrees at 4:30 Tuesday morning but Steve Heffernan wasn't in bed like most of Lawrence. He was working on Rim Rock Farm, the KU cross country team's home course, and the site of both Friday's Big 12 Conference Cross Country Championships and this weekend's Kansas State High School Championships.
Heffernan spends hours on the course, often late into the night. During the past eight weeks, between
his job as property manager on the farm and as a teacher and cross country coach for Lawrence Free State High School, Heffernan has worked 78 to 85 hours per week.
In addition, for the past two years Heffernan and his family have lived on the course in a cabin.
"My wife always wondered prior to moving out here, 'what do you do out there?' Heffernan said. "Then after moving out here, she said, 'Now I understand, because there's always something you have to take care of.'"
Heffernan has helped take care of Rim Rock for 17 of the past 20 years. Former cross country coach Bob Timmons, who built the course on his farm in the early 1970s, donated Rim Rock to the University two years ago. He didn't want to leave the course to just anybody.
Heffernan was a logical choice
"When he left he wanted to make sure that there was someone that would take care of the farm and do it real well and it just worked out that that was me," Heffernan said.
for Timmons, because since Heffernan has been in Kansas, Rim Rock has been a big part of his life.
Heffernan grew up in Nebraska and started running cross country his freshman year of high school, the first year cross country was offered in the state. After high school he had an opportunity to come to Kansas to run cross country for Timmons.
He spent his first few weeks in Kansas, in 1986, he spent on the farm working for Timmons
because Timmons put his cross country teams to work there. He helped build the course into what it is today. Heffernan's first memory from when he arrived in Lawrence was carrying stones up a hill to build a staircase on the course.
"It was a lot of fun," he said. "And, ironically, over the years it's amazing how many people just like to come out and work on it. It's not like a true farm. It's kind of like taking care of a park."
Jayhawks prepare for conference meet
SEE HEFFERNAN ON PAGE 8B
Men, women enjoy home advantage at championships
BY EVAN KAFARAKIS
As the Big 12 Conference Cross Country Championships roll into Lawrence on Friday morning, the question is the same as it has been every year: Can anyone defeat Colorado?
The Buffaloes have won the event every time it has been held, and will be the favorites this weekend. But the Jayhawks have a nationally ranked team as well as home-field advantage.
"I believe Rim Rock is one of the top five courses in the nation for a cross country event," he said.
Kansas coach Stanley Redwine will look to show off his team as well as the course.
The women's 6K meet will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, and the men's 8K meet will start at 11 a.m.
LISA MORRISEY
Both the Kansas men and women's teams won at Rim Rock earlier this season at the Bob Timmons Invitational. The runners said they were excited about having the Big 12 Championships in their backyard. The Jayhawks plan to use to their knowledge of the course to their
"Obviously, we know how to run it, but it is one of the hardest courses in the Midwest."
advantage.
"The race was a good learning experience," junior Melissa O'Rourke said. "We all got to see what the Big 12 Championships is going to be like."
Women's cross country runner
O'Rourke ran the best time for the KU women at the Bob Timmons Invitational and finished sixth.
"Obviously, we know how to run it, but it is one of the hardest courses in the Midwest," junior Lisa Morrissey said.
Friday's race will consist of each team's best five runners, and the scores will be compiled into a team score. The top two teams will advance to NCAA regionals, accompanied by other at-large teams selected by a
committee. Last year Kansas finished third at the event and received an at-large bid.
The men's team has been ranked throughout the year and will enter the meet ranked 19th in the nation by the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association.
For the visiting teams, however, all eyes will be on Rim Rock Farm in addition to the Jayhaws.
Benson Chesang, the Jayhawks two-time defending Big 12 Champion who did not compete in the Bob Timmons Invitational because of a coach's decision, said he didn't feel any pressure.
"I'm not going to shoot myself if I don't win," he said. "I'm a sportsman, but I'd still like to, though," he said.
The men have a good chance to improve their third-place finish at last year's Big 12 Championships, though the goal, according to Redwine, is to win.
"Last year we did pretty well for what we had, but this year we have a better team," Morrisey said.
"You have to go in with the idea that you want to win. That's our goal." Redwine said.
The women look to place in the top half of the conference.
Kansan sportswriter Evan Kafarakis can be contacted at ekafaraiks@kansan.com.
— Edited by Derek Karte
Jeff and Laura Jacobsen/KU ATHLETICS
A member of the Kansas women's cross country team competes in the Bob Timmons invitational earlier this season at Rim Rock Farm. Kansas will be host to the Big 12 Championships on Friday.
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