Keeping a Promise

By JOSH HELLER
Staff Writer

When presented with tribulations, some may run in fear, but others step up to the challenge, and serve as a mentor to others.
Back in January, senior runner Michael Benson and the rest of the track and field team had to overcome some big hurdles, as their head coach was dismissed in January.
“I take a leadership role now because of the head coaching incident,” Benson said. “Without the head coach, the team needed guidance, so I can guide them the way our coach would if he was still here. I am passing his knowledge onto the other athletes.”
Last year, Benson ran indoor track, and missed out on nationals in the long jump by just five inches. Now, as this indoor season has come to an end, Benson turns his focus to the upcoming outdoor season, as their first outdoor meet is in Maryland in the third week of March. Benson said he plans on participating in the hurdles and the long jump.
Benson, a hurdler and long jumper, is “a great role model,” says assistant coach Soroya Hudson.
“He leads by example,” said Hudson. “There’s a time to play and a time to be serious. He knows how to prioritize, which is good for the team to look up to.”
Benson and Hudson work very closely, and they have a great personal relationship, as both work together on the track, and even hang out together off of the track. The two were actually teammates for Benson’s first two seasons at Saint Rose, and Hudson has coached Benson for each of the past two seasons.
“His maturity and intelligence have been important for his fellow student athletes to follow,” said Hudson. “He’s a good support system for everyone. He has contributed a large amount to the school and specifically the team.”
When Benson was growing up in Amityville, NY, he played soccer for 15 years, and never imagined doing anything else. Benson made a good friend in seventh grade named Chris. Once Benson reached his junior year at Copiague High School in Copiague, NY, everything changed.
“One night, Chris passed away in his sleep due to a brain aneurysm,” said Benson. “There were no signs to this, it was just out of the blue. No one knew what had happened for months.”
Before Chris passed away, Benson promised his friend he would join the track team, and he did.
“I saw this as a turning point in my life,” said Benson. “I took it upon myself to follow the life lessons he gave me, like not giving up and trying your best, like not letting anyone ever crush your dreams.”
When Benson first joined the track team in his junior year, he was not quite sure what to do, participating in long jump and other random sprinting events. But one day, hurdles jumped out to him.
“My coach asked if I wanted to hurdle, and I thought it was cool,” said Benson. “A friend dared me to hurdle over a fence, and I did with no issue. Since I had no fear of it, I decided to give it a shot.”
Before joining the track team, track was something that ran in the family, as both his father, Michael, and uncle Herbert, ran track in high school, and they both still support him today.
“My dad goes to every meet, regardless of where it is,” Benson said. “He’s been doing that since junior year of high school. He’ll text me every day asking how practice was, and send me YouTube links to videos to see forms of running.”
In Benson’s senior year of high school, he made nationals, which were being held in Maryland, and his dad drove him there. Nationals were a week-long event, so to stay focused, Benson stayed at his uncle’s house down in Maryland for the week, where his father was his coach for the length of the event.
Even though Benson signed on later in his high school career, he quickly excelled at the sport, and was ranked number-one in the state in hurdles in his senior year. He finished the season ranked in the top-five. Benson was also ranked 30th in the nation, at one point.
Benson has made a lot of good friends on the team, and one, Donovan Smith, even chose to be his roommate.
“He’s very respectful, kind, and a fun roommate to have,” Smith said. “There’s never a dull moment, and he brings our suite to life.”
Freshman Will Springer echoed Smith’s statement, explaining Benson is not excluding towards freshman, and that he’s a nice guy towards everyone.
One quality that sticks out with Benson is his ability to focus when the situation needs it, and when to lift his team’s spirits.
“He works hard, and still has fun during warm-ups when he’s goofing around,” Springer said. “As much as we goof around, he’s not lazy when he practices.”
Springer, like Benson, participates in hurdles, so he tries to model his running after Benson’s, “especially his work ethic.”
When not training, Benson passes the time hanging out with friends.
“I like to play him in video games off the track, and that’s how we spend a lot of our time together,” said Springer, while the two were playing the popular game, “FIFA 16.” “I don’t think he’s that good at video games, but he’ll disagree.”
Benson is currently enrolled in the Communications department, pursuing a concentration in film and new media. He is working at Channel Albany, where he edits videos, and helps out in video production. He also assists the director of Channel Albany with side jobs, such as editing personal videos and films. If not for the work he did alongside the instructors of the communications department, there was no chance he would have this internship.
“I’ve learned how to properly handle software involving film and television production,” said Benson. “I also was able to enhance my ability to cut, edit, upload, and publish a film.”
Even though Benson’s workload has decreased in his senior year, his training keeps him busy. The track team practices every weekday. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, they lift in the weight room at 7:30 a.m. Afternoon practices take place every weekday at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays are endurance workouts, where the athletes run longer distances at a faster pace, while Mondays and Wednesdays are “technique days,” where each runner does their personal event(s) (in Benson’s case, hurdles and long jumps). Then, if there isn’t a meet on a Friday, the team does a “shake-out,” which is a 10-minute bike ride in the weight room.
Benson holds some very impressive personal records. In hurdles, his best times are completing the 60 meters in 8.38 seconds (indoor), and completing the 110 meters in 14.66 seconds (outdoor). To add to that, Benson’s best mark in the long jump is 23 feet, two inches.
“He’s a very good athlete, he was close to nationals,” Smith said. “I do look up to him, why would I not want to look up to him? He’s loved by his teammates and the coaching staff. The team is really going to miss him when he graduates.”
Not only is Benson an important part of the Golden Knights, but he hopes to continue running after college.
“Running overseas is a realistic goal, I just need to do some tuning up,” Benson said.
International track meets can be very good for Benson, who said that these meets in countries around Europe bring sponsorships, business opportunities, and the chance to meet new people. If this doesn’t work out, though, Benson said that he would like to get a job in a TV studio or make a movie as a producer, director, or editor.
Even though he has been very successful as a runner, Benson still wishes he could play soccer.
“I miss it a lot,” Benson said. “I actually almost tried out for the team here at the college. But I couldn’t try out, because if you’re on a track scholarship, you can’t play a contact sport.”
One interesting thing about Benson is that basically no one calls him Michael, everyone calls him Benson. When Benson joined the track team in his freshman year, there was someone else on the team named Michael. So, to differentiate between the two, the team called Benson by his last name, and it stuck from there on out.
Benson is in his final year at Saint Rose, as he plans on graduating in May. After his departure, his presence will be missed on the track team.
“He’s going to be a big loss to our program when he moves on to bigger and better things,” said Hudson. “As of now the underclassmen have very big shoes to fill.”
While Hudson feels that there is going to be a big hole, Benson thinks otherwise.
“I think the team is in good hands,” Benson said. “Something tells me I could end up coming back as a coach.”