With a variety of personalities and faces involved in all the sports at Harding, the year 1980-81 could be considered a success athletically in many ways. Although some of the win-loss records didn ~ reflect champions, the attitudes and atmosphere that filled the sports proved that the athletes were winners by participating. Disappointment may have come because of failure to win as many games as expected but no coach or player was disappointed from the experience of the contest . The sense of success could be felt in several sporting events. As spring rolled around, so did golf, bowling, track and field, baseball and tennis. Bowling, a pere&,ial success at Harding, won its seventh consecutive champions!9ip and fifteenth overall. Bad and worse news struck the keglers, however, as 1980 was the last year for the team and then freshman Jonathan Bedwell was killed in an automobile accident . Golf proved to be a· surprise when the Bisons took the conference crown. Tennis, depending on its young, aggresive stars, gave the athletic department an impressive second place finish. Track and field relied on strong pole vaulters Perry Fraley and Mike Lynch to lead a pack of eager but inexperienced runners and jumpers to fourth place in the Ale. Baseball proved the only real disappointment. Nevertheless, several individuals made themselves known by their performances and LEn': Showing her shooting form, Connie McDougle of OEGE fires Q set shot from the top of the key. • the season was not a total loss. As the summer rolled around, so did the beginning of football. Practicing three times a day in the hot August sun, the football squad discovered among themselves an abundance of freshman straight out of high school and the inexperience was apparent. The final 3-8 record did not show the vast improvement that was made, however, and at the end of the season fans were speaking highly in favor of a sparkling 1981 gridiron squad. While football was taking its lumps, cross country was picking up the slack. With Richard Teixeira pushing the corps, the harriers took the conference championship in an eminant fashion. They eventually finished tenth in the nation. As the football and cross country seasons drew to a close, basketball began. High expectations turned to frustration as the Bison roundballers dropped several very close contests. In spite of the losses heaped under the loss column, the squad had its outstanding players and never lost the respect of its fans or opposition. Fan support improved for the swimming and diving teams. Students came out to witness several record breaking performances by a group of hard working spiritual-minded young men. lntramurals provided even the average athlete a chance to show his or her abilities . Men's intramurals started out in the fall and a problem immediately arose in the program. Flag football became a battlefield of injured players. Many competitors suffered broken bones and bloody noses. In one instance. a player sustained a severe kidney injury. The rash of accidents did not hamper the success of the other sports. Basketball, volleyball and others went smoothly. Women's intramurals enjoyed as successful a year as the men's. Through.out the season, such ..ports as volleyball, basketball and speedball took much of the women athletes' time. But probably the most outstanding and greatest moment for the women's intramurals program came in late January when Harcling fielded its first women's intercollegiate athletic team. Women could now participate in varsity softball. This was the first breakthrough for the female athletes on campus. Soccer again made its way onto the athletic court as Searcy Steel sponsored a team for the second year. Made up of Harding students, the team competed against other central Arkansas squads in league4:ype competition. Indeed the athletic . process at Harding was one ofmountains and valleys. Those faces that made up the process experienced those ups and downs. A (hleles goes indepth inio the personal aspects of those people who made up the sports. Whether it be winning or losing, the competitors were an important asset to the program and their experiences and stories make up the tales' and memories of America's favorite past-time - Play Ball! - Ken Bissell, Section Editor 273 Athletes Introduction
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