UMKC Hall of Fame Spotlight: Bill Hibdon
1/13/2012 4:00:00 PM | General, Athletics
Teammates, coaches and bus rides to meets are the images that pop into Bill Hibdon's mind when he recalls his days running cross country at UMKC.
"It is hard to pick out one thing," he said. "It was just a lot of the things you do not see on noncompetition days, like in practice session and the interaction I had with teammates and the time we spent in the training room with the trainers as well.
"That, to me, was the best times. Not only the people I was with were my teammates, but they were my best friends in college."
Anybody who was around UMKC men's and women's cross country and track and field teams in the late 1990s and early 2000s completely understands what Hibdon is talking about.
Those teams had a special bond that produced some of the best results in school history.
Hibdon excelled in that atmosphere. In his senior year, he became UMKC first conference champion in men's cross country in 2002. It earned him Mid-Con Athlete of the year in cross country.
It took 8 years before UMKC crowned another conference champion in 2010 by Cosmas Ayabei.
Hibdon set a standard that future UMKC runners could follow.
"It was one of those nice turning points in our program," said former UMKC cross country coach Geoff Masanet. "It was another thing that put us on people's radars."
The accomplishments by Hibdon in cross country and track and field made him an obvious selection for the UMKC 2011 Athletic Hall of Fame Class.
In addition to his conference title, Hibdon was first team all-conference in cross country in 2000 and 2002. He ranks third in school history in the 10K in cross country with a time of 31:42.
Hibdon is honored to make UMKC Hall of Fame.
"Looking at a lot of the athletes and coaches who are in there from years past and also looking at the athletes who are going in this time, it is humbling to be in there," he said.
"Really, I'm just a byproduct of the coaches I was fortunate enough to work with at UMKC and also high school and the teammates that I had as well. It was a great experience and training environment when I was there and academics as well."
Hibdon added to the atmosphere, Masanet said.
Running was important to Hibdon. To be a conference champion in cross country takes many grueling hours of running. It takes self-motivation.
As much as Hibdon wanted to be successful, he did not let that rule his college experience.
"When I think about him the running part comes on top of he was such a fun guy," Masanet said. "He was successful in running because while it was real important to him, it wasn't the only thing on the planet that mattered to him.
"Running was something he was passionate about, but the fact that the world didn't end on a bad performance helped him approach it without it being life and death kind of stuff."
The reason Hibdon picked UMKC was because of the family atmosphere created by former UMKC track coach Dave Krueger, Masanet and all the assistant coaches.
"All the coaches did a fantastic job of getting athletes who were very cohesive," Hibdon said.
Hibdon gained so much more from UMKC than athletic achievements. He earned his undergraduate degree in business administration and also his MBA from UMKC Bloch School of Business.
"For me, it allowed me to get my foot in the door for the position I have had," he said. "I have been working in the financial service industry ever since I left school. Just having that educational background has been paramount in my career path. I am currently an operational risk consultant for Wells Fargo."
UMKC is also the place where he met his wife 10 years ago. They were married in July, 2010.
All the things he learned as a student-athlete are serving him well today.
"The thing about being a student-athlete is it teaches you time management," he said. "You are studying along with all the hours you put in with practice and going to meets.
"It helps with things like developing leadership and being able to perform on the job just as well as when it was competition time."
Running is still in Hibdon's blood. He has competed in the Chicago Marathon and the Boston Marathon. He was scheduled to run in the New York City Marathon in November, but an injury prevented him.
"I still try to stay connected to the sport and that type of thing," he said.
In the annuls of UMKC cross country, Hibdon will always be known as the first men's conference champion in NCAA Division I. But what he received from UMKC was so much more than a first-place medal.
Hibdon got the full value of being a student-athlete. The memories of those times remain strong 10 years later.
