In a Spring that was filled with winning performances in such traditional sports as golf, tennis and a Fall championship in cross country. not many people expected a victorious campaign in any other sport that would contribute to the AII·Sports trophy point totals. But the young and dedicated Bison track and field team didn't let that bother them. They caused many heads to turn when they came home with no less than two school records broken, one national champion, two AII·Americans, and five conference champions, enroute to an Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championship performance. The year kicked off in fine fashion with the conclusion of ·the indoor season. The Bisons had captured the conference meet, which did not go into the records for the AII'sports trophy, and were represented at the national indoor meet at Kansas City, Mo. When the tracksters returned to Searcy, they brought back two AII·Americans and a national champion. Freshman high hurdler Dwayne Allen captured the 60·yard high hurdles with a time of 7.46 seconds while senior Carter Lambert placed sixth in the two-mile run with a time of 9:22.8. For Allen, better things were to come, but for Lambert, tragedy struck. He fell to an injury which sidelined him for most of the outdoor season. Both Lambert and Allen opened the outdoor season by establishing records in the first meet. Competing in the Arkansas College Invitational, Lambert broke the mark in the 5000 meter run ~" 300· Track and Field Depth Plus Individual Performances Earn Tracksters AIC Crown with a time of 14:53.2. Allen established a freshman record in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 14.25 seconds. "To be getting school records at this time of the season is pretty gratifying," coach Ted Lloyd said after the record performances. "Both Dwayne and Carter are going to help us out this season." The meet was to be the last for Lambert, as the injury occured following the race. Allen continued his domination in the high hurdle event, eventually breaking the school mark at least three times in the season. That included a winning performance in the Arkansas State University Classic in Jonesboro, one of tt)e mos~ competitive college meets in the nation. The team as a whole continually dominated its competition when it was AIC schools, and that was neccassary if the conference championship was to be won. Dropping competition in a triangular meet at Arkansas Tech, a quadrangular meet at home and others like them, the Bison thinclads were prepared and in top form for the AIC championships, held in Arkadelphia. Through the preliminaries, the Bisons qualified 30 competitors and outdis· tanced all of the other schools. Ouachita Baptist University placed 24 in the finals to finish second in the number of qualifiers. A pleasant surprise was the large amount of Harding qualifiers in the distance events. Four Bisons qualified for the finals in the 1500 meter run while six runners qualified for the 5000 meter run. Depth certainly looked as if it would be on the Bisons' side in the finals. Five events were won by the Bisons in the finals night of competition. Senior Mike Lynch relinquished his failure to make the 1980 championships by set· ting a new record for the meet, clearing a heighth of 16·3 in the pole vault. He was in the hospital the year before with ap· pendici~is . John McAlister, a senior who had proven himself on the cross country circuit, took the 1500 meter run with a time of 3:55.6. Also winning was Allen, who breezed to the top time of 14.34 seconds. Triple jumper Kevin Granberg took the event with a jump of 47·)03!.. And Randy Jackson, another of the cross country runners who also performed outstand· ingly well on the tartan track, took the 5000 meter run with a time of 15: 13.44. When the final point totals were tabulated, the Bisons had edged out OBU, 116.5 to 112, and claimed the AIC trophy. All individual event winners were automatically on the AII·AIC squad, but several others were selected for their top·notched performances. These in· cluded Gene Billingsley, Stan Burnette and John Sills. Jackson, Lynch and Granberg went on to compete in the NAIA Track and Field Championships, in Houston, Texas. By vote of the team members, Allen was selected the most valuable track performer and Lynch was named the most valuable field performer. Lambert was the recipient of the second Bruce Gaither award. Gaither, an outstanding Bison high jumper, was killed in an automobile accident in December of 1979. ~
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