Bendio powering through season’s curves
Kim Bendio talks the same way she runs.
It may take her a second or two to get started, but once she does, she flies.
At the moment, it’s that start that concerns the East Valley High School senior sprinter.
“I’ve always had trouble coming out of the blocks,” she said. “By the time I look up in a 100-meter sprint, I’ve got everybody in front of me. It used to be okay because I had enough speed to make up the difference. But as the competition gets better, I don’t have that luxury.”
Kim Bendio in full flight is a sight to behold, especially powering around the curve of the track – a major feature of her best event, the 200-meter sprint.
“With the 200 I feel as though I have the room and the speed to make up for a bad start, especially running the curve,” she said. “I love running the curve.”
Bendio is the kind of athlete coaches adore – and for good reason.
The track team captain’s strength is the sprints, the 100 and 200 meters, and she anchors the Knights’ 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams. To help the team, she has been asked to run the 400 from time to time. And although she has never competed in field events, she has long jumped when needed. And when she’s not competing in one of her own events, she’s cheering on anyone wearing East Valley colors, especially her stepsister, Lindsay Johnson.
“Anything we’ve asked her to do, she’s done and done willingly,” coach Shane Toy said. “I love her. I wish I had 10 more of her.”
Outgoing with a ready smile, Bendio clearly loves her sport, even though she came late to the party.
“I started out as a soccer player and my freshman year, I played on a rec soccer team,” she said, her eyes dancing as she gets further and further into her story. “My sophomore year one of my friends dragged me, kicking and screaming to the first day of track practice.
“My first reaction was, whoa, I don’t know if I’m going to like all this. And then, once I tried it, it was more like, hey, I think I’m really going to like this.”
Just hitting her stride, she speeds toward the finish.
“I love practice. I know it’s going to be a tough workout, but I can have school problems, social problems, homework problems or boyfriend problems during the day,” she said. “Once I get to practice and get done, I feel great. I’m totally destressed and everything is just better. I’ll talk to my boyfriend, and he’ll say, ‘How can you be so happy after practice when you were so stressed out before?’ But I am.”
She plans to continue her track career by attending Spokane Community College and sprinting for the Sasquatch.
Knowing that her track career will continue takes a bit of the pressure off this, her final high school season, Bendio says. But she’s eager to squeeze every last drop of success out of this spring.
Already, Bendio has anchored a school-record 4x200 relay performance of 1 minute, 47.1 seconds, lowering the East Valley standard by more than a second.
It all comes down to that troubling start.
“I have a tendency to rise up in the blocks and then surge forward,” Bendio explained. “I don’t have a lot of power getting myself out of the blocks. I would use both legs to push out of the blocks. We’ve been working on my start and it’s getting better. I’m using my right leg to push off and get into my stride quicker.”
As a Class 3A school, there are fewer slots to qualify for the state meet for the Greater Spokane League schools than there are for Class 4A – a situation not lost on Bendio and her teammates.
“I didn’t have a great day when we went down for the Pasco Invite,” she said. “On the way back I was talking to coach Toy, and I asked him if I had a chance to get to regionals and to state. He said, ‘Of course you do, a good chance. You just have to keep working on your start.’
“I believe what he says.”
It helps to have run against one of the best runners in the country – Rogers standout Becca Nobles.
“I love running against Becca – she’s such a great person and a great runner,” Bendio said. “I’ve talked to her, and she’s actually helped me. I always tell her that I want her to run her very best because I’m testing myself against her.
“I run against her in the 4x200 relay. I know I’m not going to beat her, but my goal is to finish the race one step closer to her than when I started my leg. That way I know she didn’t gain any ground on me.”