He’s the Lawrence High student-body president, co-captain of the cross country team, a regular at LHS sporting events wearing his signature candy-striper overalls, and hits the books hard enough to be a member of the national art honor society.
And compared to his first two years of high school, Ben Wilson has so much time on his hands he barely knows what to do with himself.
As a junior at LHS, Wilson not only ran cross country, he was the football team’s holder and a backup quarterback. Two years ago, he ran cross country and was the sophomore team’s QB.
It took the dedication of cross country coach Brian Anderson and the understanding of football coach Dirk Wedd to make it happen. And it took a teenager’s boundless energy.
Wilson ran his workout with Anderson at 5:45 a.m., then would go to his grandparents’ house a block from LHS to shower before school. By the time he made it back home it usually was past 7 p.m. And he still had enough energy left to study at night?
“Sometimes,” he said. “School was a challenge those last two years, so I figured I better stay awake this year.”
He decided to concentrate on running for his senior year. A two-sport fall athlete faded away and a cross country star was born. Wilson placed sixth at last weekend’s 6A regional meet. The 6A state race, at Rim Rock, is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and Wilson is talking up his teammate.
“Roy Wedge, he actually only lost twice this year,” Wilson said. “He’s a stud. He’s a junior and he’s been all-state since freshman year. Freshman year he was 20th. Last year he was seventh. This year, I’d say he’s the favorite to win it.”
Wilson couldn’t even see Wedge from where he was running last year.
“I’ve been up there with the lead pack mostly this year,” Wilson said. “I try to run with Roy as long as I can, usually the first mile or two (of 3.1 miles) and most of the time Roy just pulls away.”
That doesn’t mean Wilson has conceded the meet to Wedge.
“I’m planning one and two this week,” Wilson said. “That’s what it’s going to take for the team to win state. I know Roy’s going to be up there and I want to be up there with him, if not ahead of him.”
Count Wilson among the many distance runners grateful to former Kansas University cross country and track coach Bob Timmons for the gift of Rim Rock and to Free State High coach Steve Heffernan for maintaining it.
“I love Rim Rock,” Wilson said. “I know how to run it and I know all the tricks and secrets about it and it’s definitely the most beautiful course I’ve run. Compared to most other courses, where it’s a random field, it’s not all pot-holey. It’s nice and smooth. It’s always in the best shape and it’s going to be great on Saturday. With all the rain, it’s going to be nice and soft. It’s going to be good.”
Shortly after running his race, Wilson plans to watch the 6A girls race. He’ll be the guy wearing red-and-white overalls he bought in Madison, Wis., where the team went for a summer cross country camp.
“I went to six different stores to find the right size,” he said. “I finally found a size that would fit a 5-8, 140-pound little kid.”
Little kids with big ambitions tend to go far in life.
