M E N The Tradition Goes On , 5 C R o 5 5 c o U N T R Y The tradition continued in 1983 for the men's cross country as the Bisons won their 13th consecutive Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference title. They proved that the number 13 can be lucky. Although the Bisons were young in age, their previous experience in running cross country either in high school or college proved beneficial in winning the title . Coach Lloyd and his years of knowledge of the conference helped the younger runners. Returning to the line up was sophomore Al Ba tes who showed consistency in his running by placing in the top ten, fou r out of five meets. Junior Larry Wayne demonstrated the maturity of an experienced runner throughout the season by having strong finishes. Freshmen Eddie Neal, Mike Kamperschroer, and Darryl Halbert also contributed to the success of the Bisons at different times in the season. The first meet for the men was the Harding Bison Booster Invitational Meet. Out of the nine teams, the Bisons placed second falling only to Arkansas Tech University. Freshman Eddie Neal led the team with a fifth place finish with a time of 27:37. Following close behind was Larry Wayne placing sixth. Also contributing effort were Al Bates in ninth and Ken Berry in sixteenth. Next, Harding met the challenge in Arkadelphia, at the Ouachita Baptist University Invitational. The Bisons again fell short of the mark to Arkansas Tech. Wayne and Bates paced the Bisons by placing third and fourth respectively with times of 25:26 and 25:29. Berry, Neal, and Kampersch roer placed eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth in Harding's second place finish. - Public Relalio1lS O ffice 64 Men's Cross Country In St . Louis, Missouri, the Bisons attended the Washington University Invitational featuring twenty-one men's teams with about 200 runners competing. The Bisons were led by AI Bates. It was a rugged five mile course but Harding placed sixth in the meet . The other top runners for the day were Neal placing 32nd, James Pinson placing 41st, Berry placing 64th, and Kamperschroer placing 71st. The Bisons did not fair well against the windy weather at the Old Miss Invitational. Harding placed fourth oul of the six teams present at the meet. Bates ran the best for the Bisons placing ninth with a time of 25:15. Others that placed were Neal, Berry and Wayne. The most important meet of the year was the AIC and District 17 Championships which were held in Conway on the Hendrix College campus . The Bisons which lost twice during the season to Arkansas Tech University were the underdogs going into the meet. As the tension built under the overcast skies, the Bisons along with the other runners began to get the Adrenalin flowing. As the gun went off, the runners bolted from the starting line and the quest for their 13th title began. At the halfway mark the Bisons we re bunched together with Tech being slightly ahead but the runners were not running their race . They were falling into the trap of starting out to fast and not having anything left for the end . Harding won the meet by 16 points. Bates set the pace for the Bisons finishing in third place with a personal record of 24:59, and average of under the five minute mark on the five mile course. Other Bisons to set personal records were W <f yne, Kamperschroer, and Pinson placing fourth, eleventh, and fourteenth respectively . Neal finished in sixth place and only four se;;onds off his personal best . After winning the Ale and District 17 Championship, the Bisons headed north for the NAIA National Cross Country Championship held in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The weather was very much like the weather on the day of the conference and district championships and this proved to be a good omen for the Bisons. Harding placed 21st out of 37 teams that were entered. Bates, who finished 33rd out of a field of 350 runners, Wayne, who finished 91st and Neal, who finished 107th were among the top finishers for the Bisons . Coach Lloyd summed up the season for the Bisons . "We've had the upper hand . We've had good runners. There's no magic about it. We've got good kids and traditions and things like that end up taking care of themselves." iW
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