A trail blazing Olympic athlete, Eldon Jenne (May 29, 1899 – February 4, 1993) made his mark in Oregon as a successful coach and administrator for over four decades.
Jenne was a man of “firsts” at Washington State College. In Pullman, he played for the Cougars’ baseball and football teams and developed into a world-class pole vaulter. In 1920, he became the first WSU athlete to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team and finished seventh in the pole vault at the Antwerp Olympic Summer Games. The following year, at the first-ever NCAA championship meet, he tied for first in the vault. His personal best in the event was 13’-1” set in 1920. Jenne won the Pacific Coast Conference title for three consecutive seasons.
Later in the decade, Jenne returned to Portland and coached the football, basketball, baseball and track and field teams at Washington High. In 1928, he led the basketball team to the state championship. In football, the Colonials won seven Portland Interscholastic League titles and one state title. Jenne’s football coaching record at Washington was 61-16-4 with only one losing season.
Eldon then joined the college football coaching ranks, becoming the head coach at Pacific University from 1930-’33. His Boxer teams had a combined record of 14-9-3.
Jenne returned to Portland and served as the PIL director of athletics from 1938 through 1965. Jenne is also a member of the PIL Athletics Hall of Fame and the Washington State University Athletics Hall of Fame.