Leann Warren (b. Mar 2) is a true daughter of Oregon and is a classic representative of the multi-talented female athletes that emerged in the wake of Title IX. It was the mid 70’s and the wiry, determined young woman emerged as a Freshman athlete at Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis. At 5 foot 5 inches tall, Warren looked like she needed to run around in the shower to get wet. Her high school contemporaries on the track were a whos-who collection of future college standouts. Anna Maria Lopez, Linda Hughes, Claudette Groenendahl, Robin Marks and Sally Harmon.
But Leann had the competitive drive to match all of them. She loved playing basketball, was the point guard when CV won the 1978 state championship. Warren was a top notch defender who always took on the opponents’ best scorer.
Basketball was just one of three sports Leann excelled at for the Raiders. Cross country began the school year for her and track and field ended it. And unlike basketball, size did not matter. Leann Warren was a natural on her own two feet. Her high school career included 4 individual track championships at 400 and 800 meters. During those years, she fell in love with the atmosphere of Hayward Field on the U of O campus. But when it came time to decide whether to be a Duck or a Beaver track athlete, her final decision was made walking to the mailbox with two signed letters of intent. She put the Oregon letter in the box.
Warren exploded on the national scene just a week after her final high school meet. She returned to Hayward Field as a late alternate in the 800 at the Prefontaine Classic. Leann stunned an All-star field including Mary Slaney and Ruth Wysocki. Just week’s later she won the US Junior championship. Warren settled on 2 sports at Oregon, cross country and track and continued to step to challenges and amaze her coaches and opponents. In 1980, Leann set a slew of meet records as a freshman, just missed making the Olympic team and spent her summer racing in Europe. Her Duck career featured 10 All-America performances, 5 national championships and 3 school records as well as a second place finish at cross country nationals. She was named College athlete of the year in 1981.
Running grueling doubles at 1500 and 800 meters took its toll and her college career ended up spread out over 6 years.
The girl who could always do one-handed push-ups on command never quit her athletic pursuit. To this day, Leann Warren is an avid cyclist while continuing a rich career in media, both on and off the mic. She was inducted into the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995 and now, we welcome Leann Warren to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.
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