1980

Dryol Burleson - Track & Field

1980

Dyrol Burleson was Oregon's first great middle-distance runner, reaching the Olympic finals in the 1,500 meters in both 1960 and '64. 

Born in Cottage Grove in 1940, Burleson won the national championship in the mile in 1959, '60 and '61, and was the world's top-ranked runner in the 1,500 in 1961 while still competing for the University of Oregon. He was unbeaten throughout his college career and helped the Ducks win the 1962 NCAA championship.

Burleson was the first to best the 4-minute mile barrier at Hayward Field, when he ran 3:58.6 during a meet in 1960. The time established an American record.

Prior to the '64 Tokyo Summer Games, he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

He placed sixth in the 1,500 in the 1960 Rome Olympic Summer Games and fifth in Tokyo in 1964. An injury kept him from competing in the 1968 Olympic Trials.

Burleson worked 31 years as an administrator for the Linn County regional parks department before retiring in 1997, and regularly ran 50 miles per week. He was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 1980, the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993 and the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2010.

Dick Fosbury - Track & Field

1980

Among the athletic legends within the state, few have had the impact on their sport like Dick Fosbury, who revolutionized the art of high-jumping so much that the style was named after him – the “Fosbury Flop.”

Born in 1947, Fosbury grew up in Medford and found his way to the basketball and track and field teams at Medford High. His basketball career did not advance and he struggled with the track and field team competing in the high jump using the established technique: the straddle or Western Roll, which ended with jumpers landing on their feet on a pile of sawdust.

While trying to master the outdated upright scissors method as a junior, Fosbury developed a method of jumping where he cleared the bar head first and landed on his shoulders on a foam pad, which was just becoming available. As a sophomore, he was unable to clear 5-feet and qualify for state. As a junior, he cleared 6-feet, 5.5 inches and finished second at the state meet.

Fosbury advanced to Oregon State in 1965 and continued to improve enough that he cleared 7 feet in 1968 and won the NCAA title as a junior. He then won the U.S. Trials for the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Summer Games.

In Mexico City, Fosbury won the Gold Medal and set an Olympic record at 7 feet, 4.25 inches.

Fosbury again won the NCAA title in 1969. But by the ’72 Olympic Trials most of the top jumpers had adopted the Fosbury Flop and he failed to make the U.S. team.

The following year, he became an engineer full-time.

The Fosbury Flop enabled the world record, which had been stuck at 7 feet, 5.75 inches since 1963, to begin advancing again in 1970. It passed 8 feet, ½ inches in 1993, which remains the world record.

Fosbury was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 1980.

Dan Kelly -Track & Field

1980

Dan Kelly won a silver medal in the long jump at the 1908 London Summer Olympics, just two years after finishing a 100-yard race in 9.6 seconds, which established a world record.

Born in 1883, Kelly grew up in Baker City and attended the University of Portland (then Columbia University) where he was a standout in track and field. He transferred to the University of Oregon to compete under coach Bill Hayward in 1905. The following spring, he ran 9.6 in the 100 during a meet in Spokane, Washington. Later in the meet, he tied the world record in the 220-yard dash at 21.2 seconds.

Kelly, who was 5-foot-10 and also competed under the Multnomah Athletic Club banner, was Oregon's first national champion in track and field in 1907, when he won the long jump at 23 feet, 9.5 inches. He jumped 23-3.25 in London to finish second.

Injuries curtailed Kelly's career in 1909.

Kelly was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 1980 and the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992.

Bill Dellinger - Track & Field

1980

William "Bill" Solon Dellinger (born March 23, 1934) is a retired American middle-distance runner. He competed in the 5,000 m at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won a bronze medal in 1964, setting his personal record.  He lettered in track at the University of Oregon in 1954, 1955, and 1956.

Upon retirement from competition, Dellinger took a position as the assistant coach to Bill Bowerman for the Oregon Ducks Track and Field team. After Bowerman's retirement in 1972, Dellinger succeeded him as head coach. In his 25 years of coaching, Dellinger's men won five NCAA titles, achieved 108 All American honors, and had a 134-29 meet record.

He was instrumental in the development and coaching of Oregon and American great distance star Steve Prefontaine in conjunction with Bowerman, and their experience was made into a 1997 film Prefontaine, in which Bill Dellinger was played by Ed O'Neill.

In Co-Operation with Adidas, Dellinger developed the so called "Dellinger Web", a Cushioning Technology used on various Shoes throughout the 80s and early 90s.

Dellinger also coached many post-collegians including Olympians Mary Decker, Bill McChesney, Alberto Salazar, Matt Centrowitz, Don Clary, and many others.

Dellinger retired from the University of Oregon in 1998 and would later join his mentor, Bill Bowerman, as an inductee in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2001.

Since retirement, he has stayed out of the Track and Field world, except for a few appearances at meets named in his honor.

Records set by Dellinger:

·         1956 American Record holder: 5000 meters 14:16.2

·         1958 American Record holder: 1500 meters 3:41.5

·         1959 World Record holder (indoors): 2 miles 8:49.9

·         1959 World Record holder (indoors): 3 miles 13:37.0

·         1960 American record holder: 2 miles 8:43.8

Alfred “A.C.” Gilbert - Track & Field

1980

Alfred Carlton Gilbert (February 15, 1884 – January 24, 1961) was an American inventor, athlete, magician, toy maker and business.  Gilbert is best known as the inventor of the Erector Set.

Gilbert was educated at the Tualatin Academy and attended Pacific University in nearby Forest Grove, Oregon, where he was a brother of the Gamma Sigma Fraternity. He left Pacific after 1902 and transferred to Yale University, financing his education by working as a magician, and earning a degree in sports medicine.

An accomplished athlete, he broke the world record for consecutive chin-ups (39) in 1900 and distance record for running long dive in 1902. He invented the pole vault box and set two world records in the pole vault including a record for 12' 3" (3.66 meters) at the Spring meet of the Irish American Athletic Club, held at Celtic Park, Queens, New York, in 1906. He tied for gold with fellow American Edward Cook at the 1908 London Summer Olympics for pole vaulting.

Pacific University had named a residential hall after him.

Ralph Hill - Track & Field

1980

Ralph Anthony Hill (December 26, 1908 – October 17, 1994) was an American distance runner. He set an American record over the mile in 1930 and won a silver medal in the 5000 m event at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

Hill studied at the University of Oregon when competing in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in the 5000 m. In an exciting race on August 5, 1932, he came in second behind Lauri Lehtinen, with each runner recording a time of 14:30.0. The judges deliberated for an hour before they could decide not to disqualify Lehtinen, as he had appeared to block Hill twice. Hill refused to file a protest, stating that he believed Lehtinen's obstruction of him was accidental. Lauri Virtanen came in third 14 seconds behind.

After college Hill made a career of farming near Klamath Falls. The local Henley High School renamed its football field in September 1992 after its alumnus Hill.

H.W. Kerrigan - Track & Field

1980

Herbert William H.K. Kerrigan (January 24, 1879 – September 10, 1959) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the high jump.  He was the first Olympian from the state of Oregon.

He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in San Francisco.  

Bert Kerrigan competed for the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland and won the Pacific Northwest high jump championships in 1894 and 1896.

In the 1906 Intercalated Games held in Athens, Greece, Kerrigan won the bronze medal jointly with Greek athlete Themistoklis Diakidis. Kerrigan had been favored to win but was injured by a wave that hit the ship carrying the U.S. team to Athens. The winning height of 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) was the lowest winning height in Olympic history.

Les Steers - Track & Field

1980

Lester Steers (June 16, 1917 – January 23, 2003) was an American track and field high jumper.  In 1941 he broke the world record for the high-jump three times. His last record stood for 12 years.

Steers attended Palo Alto High School, winning the CIF California State Meet three years in a row from 1935-1937 and San Mateo Junior College before attending the University of Oregon in 1941, competing for the 'Ducks' in the year of his greatest triumphs.

Steers was a great all-round athlete who competed at the javelin, shot put and high-hurdles for his college athletics team as well as the high jump giving him the aspiration of competing as a decathlete.

It was, however, as a high-jumper that he achieved his greatest success. He was NCAA champion in 1941 , 3 times AAU national champion (1939–1941), and a gold medalist at the World University Games in 1939 where he also won silver in the javelin and bronze in the pentathlon).

As a jumper, Steers used the 'Belly Roll', a variation of the "Western Roll." 

Steers remained in Oregon reportedly working as a salesman.

He died in 2003, a resident of Richland, Washington.

Steers achieved the following world records during his athletics career:

·         2.10 m (6' 10 3/4") in Seattle on 26 April 1941;

·         2.105 m (6' 10 7/8") in Los Angeles on 24 May 1941;

·         2.11 m (6' 11") in Los Angeles on 17 June 1941.

Note: only the third was ratified by the sports' governing body, the IAAF.

Steers is also reported to have cleared 7 feet 1/2 inch in an exhibition jump in Eugene on 27 February 1941.

In 1974, Steers was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame.

In 1992, Steers was inducted into the University of Oregon Hall of Fame.

Grant Swan -Track & Field

1980

This 1980 Oregon Sports Hall of Fame inductee lettered in track and field at Oregon State University from 1919-1922 and then coached the program from 1946-1970. He was a three-time Pacific Coast Conference champion miler and held the school record for 34 years. Swan was unbeaten in the mile during his college career. The Beavers won the 1946 conference title with Swan at the helm.  Grant Swan was inducted into the Oregon State University Hall of Fame in 1990.

 

1981

Jim Bailey - Track & Field

1981

Jim Bailey helped establish the middle-distance races as a foundation for the University of Oregon program during his years at the school, 1955-57.

An Australian by birth, he won the NCAA title in the mile in 1955, then became the first runner to break 4 minutes on American soil in 1956. Bailey ran 3:58.6 during a meet at the Los Angeles Coliseum, which was watched by an estimated 40 million television viewers in the hours following the Kentucky Derby. Bailey beat fellow Australian and world record holder John Landy in the race, which caused Australia to turn on him.
Later in the year, Bailey qualified for the Melbourne Summer Olympic Games in the 800 and 1,500, despite regularly being booed by his countrymen. In the Games, he faltered in the 800 semifinals and didn't run the 1,500.

Bailey, who came to Eugene at age 26, spent his later years in Washington, working as a salesman for sportswear as well as real estate. He was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.

Otis Davis- Track & Field

1981

Otis Davis picked up track at a late age, but matured quickly in the sport and won two gold medals at the 1960 Rome Summer Olympic Games before settling into a life of coaching and public service.

Born in 1932 in Alabama, Davis came to Eugene as a basketball player following four years in the Air Force. Although he never lettered in basketball, he took up track having never run in a meet and competed for the Ducks in 1958-60. He won just one major title - the 440-yard final in the Pacific Coast Conference championships in 1959, but learned enough of the sport to take on the world the following year.

In 1960, he became the first runner to break 45 seconds in the 400 meters and won in 44.9 seconds, edging out a German Carl Kauffmann in a photo finish in Rome. The win made him the first University of Oregon competitor or alumnus to win a gold medal. He anchored the winning 4x400 relay team to a gold medal as well.
Following his retirement from the sport, he became a coach and popular columnist in Europe, and then educator and community activist on the East Coast.

Davis was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, and the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992. He also is a member of the New Jersey Sports Writers Hall of Fame.

Harry Jerome - Track & Field

1981

Harry Jerome found his way from Canada to Eugene and became one of the state’s greatest performers, setting a world record three times and competing in three Olympic Summer Games before becoming a civic advocate for athletics.

Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in 1940, Jerome played football and baseball as a youth, but excelled as a sprinter and hurdler and set the Canadian record in the 220-yard dash at age 18. A year later, he equaled the world record of 10.0 seconds in the 100 meters during the Canadian Olympic Trials. He competed in the 1960 Rome Olympics prior to enrolling at the University of Oregon, where he won two NCAA titles from 1962-64.

He represented Canada and won a bronze medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games and competed in the ‘68 Mexico City Olympic Games as well.

Jerome set the world record in both the 100 yards and 100 meters during his career and ran the anchor leg on the 440 yard relay team comprised of University of Oregon sprinters that set the world record in 1962.

Following his career, Jerome helped create the Ministry of Sport in Canada. Vancouver, B.C., is home to the Harry Jerome Invitational Track Classic each summer. He died in 1982 at age 42.

Jerome was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and the University of Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.

Jim Grelle - Track & Field

1981

Jim Grelle helped the University of Oregon track program build its legacy as a middle-distance power by winning the NCAA cross country title and running in the 1960 Rome Olympic Summer Games.

Born in 1936, Grelle grew up in Portland and twice won the 880-yard state title during track season for Lincoln High.

At Oregon, he ran under Bill Bowerman and finished second in the mile at the NCAA Track and Field Championships twice before winning in 1959. Late in the year, he finished second in the 1,500 meters at the Pan-Am Games in Chicago.

In 1960, he won the national title in the 1,500, which qualified him for the Olympics, where he finished eighth in the event.

Grelle continued running and became the fourth American to break the 4-minute mile barrier in 1962 under the banner of the Los Angeles Track Club. The following year, he won the Pan-Am Games title in the 1,500 and established an American record in the two-mile run.

In 1964, while competing for the Multnomah Athletic Club, Grelle won the national title in the indoor 1,500, but finished fourth in the Olympic Trials and missed qualifying. In 1965, he again won the national title in the indoor 1,500, and began coaching distance runners at the University of Portland.

Grelle was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, and the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994.

Mack Robinson - Track & Field

1981

Matthew MacKenzie "Mack" Robinson (July 18, 1914 – March 12, 2000) was an American track and field athlete best known for winning a silver medal in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, where he broke the Olympic record in the 200 meters but still finished behind Jesse Owens. He was the older brother of Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson.  

Mack was born in Cairo, Georgia, in 1914. He and his siblings were left fatherless at an early age, leaving their mother, Mallie Robinson, as the sole support of the children. She performed in a variety of manual labor tasks, and moved with her children to Pasadena, California, while the children were still young. Mack remained in town for school, and set national junior college records in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and long jump at Pasadena Junior College.  

He placed second in the 200 meters at the United States Olympic Trials in 1936, earning himself a place on the Olympic team. He went on to win the silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Berlin, finishing 0.4 seconds behind Jesse Owens.

Mack Robinson attended the University of Oregon, graduating in 1941. While at Oregon he won numerous titles in NCAA, AAU and Pacific Coast Conference track meets. He has been honored as being one of the most distinguished graduates of the University of Oregon and is a member of the University of Oregon Hall of Fame and now a 1981 Inductee of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.

For a time in the early 1970s, Mack was a park director of Lemon Grove Park, a park in the East Hollywood part of Los Angeles.

Later in life, he was known for leading the fight against street crime in his home town of Pasadena. The Pasadena Robinson Memorial, dedicated to both Matthew and Jackie, was dedicated in 1997. The memorial statue of Jackie Robinson by sculptor Richard H. Ellis at UCLA Bruins baseball team's home Jackie Robinson Stadium, was installed by the efforts of Jackie's brother, Mack.

Several locations are named in honor of Mack Robinson. In addition to the Pasadena Robinson Memorial, the stadium of Pasadena City College was dedicated to him in 2000. That same year, the United States Postal Service approved naming the new post office in Pasadena the Matthew 'Mack' Robinson Post Office Building.

Forrest Smithson -Track & Field

1981

Forrest Custer Smithson (September 26, 1884 - November 25, 1962) was an America athlete and Gold Medalist in the 110 m hurdles at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Born in Portland, Oregon, Smithson was a student of theology from Oregon State University and an AAU champion in 1907 and 1909 in the 120 yd (110 m) hurdles.

At the London Olympics, the main favorites were Smithson's teammates John Garrels and Arthur Shaw who had earlier equaled Alvin Kraenzlein's world record of 15.2 seconds. The 110 m hurdles were not contested on a track as usual, but in a special path in the stadium grass. Only Americans reached the final, which was contested on the last day of the London Games. Smithson defeated Garrels and set a new world record of 15.0 seconds.

Forrest Smithson died in Contra Costa County, California at age 78.

There is a widespread story about Smithson winning the gold medal while carrying a Bible in his left hand (ostensibly to protest the decision to run the 110 m hurdles final on a Sunday). At first, none of the 110 m hurdles heats nor the final were scheduled or planned to take place on Sunday. The story was not mentioned in the newspapers. This story is based on a picture published in the official report, which was taken during the final.

The fact was that Forrest Smithson was a strong Christian and often ran with a Bible in his hand to point people to the source of his strength and inspiration; his relationship with Jesus Christ.

1982

Ed Moeller - Track & Field

1982

Ed Moeller played football for the University of Oregon, but made his mark on history as a discus thrower who once held the world record.

Moeller played alongside Bill Bowerman as a fullback and then quarterback on squads that were a combined 20-7-2 in 1929-31.

In 1929, Moeller, under the guidance of coach Bill Hayward, won the Pacific Coast Conference title in the discus, then finished second at the NCAA Championships to Pete Rasmus of Ohio State, who set a world record in the event at 159 feet, 1 7/8 inches. During a meet later in the year, Moeller set the record at 160 feet, 7 7/10 inches. 

He finished third in the NCAA championships the following two years and his athletic career closed out soon afterward.

Moeller was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.

Neal Steinhauer - Track & Field

1982

University of Oregon (1967) track and field athlete was an NCAA shot put champion, NCAA All-American, Pacific Coast Conference champion three years, and Northern Division champion in the shot and discus.  He was AAU champion in 1969.

He won a silver medal in the shot put at the 1967 Pan American Games, behind Randy Matson, and also won two medals at the 1967 Summer Universiade in Tokyo (gold in the shot put and bronze in the discus). A one-time American national champion (in 1969). Steinhauer set his personal best (21.01 m) on March 25, 1967 at a meet in Sacramento.  He was on the cover of the February 1969 issue of Track and Field News.  

Percy Bell - Track & Field

1982

Oregon State University Class of 1927.  Pacific Coast and Northern Division two-mile and cross country champion.  Member of four-mile relay team at Drake Relays, winning team and national championships.

Wade Bell - Track & Field

1982

Wade Bell helped run the University of Oregon into the record books during a short-but-stellar career that included a trip to the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympic Games.

Born in Odgen, Utah in 1945, Bell found his way to Eugene in 1965 and ran in the NCAA championships for three consecutive years under coach Bill Bowerman. In 1966, he broke the 4-minute barrier in the mile by running 3:59.80 seconds in a meet at Hayward Field.

As a senior in 1967, he won the NCAA title in the 880-yard run as well as the national AAU title. He set American records in the 1,000-yard and then 1,000-meter events and won the Pan-American Games title the same year in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Bell ran a leg on the Oregon Track Club 4x4 mile relay team that established an unofficial world record. At Mexico City, he finished fifth in his first heat, but did not qualify for the final.

Bell was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1982 and the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.

Morgan Groth - Track & Field

1982

Morgan Groth is an American former middle distance runner who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics.  While at Oregon State University he set the world record in the 2 mile relay with a time of 7:18.9 at the West Coast Relays in Fresno, California.  He ran the anchor and NCAA half mile champion, Norm Hoffman, joined Groth to set the world record. Morgan Groth also won the first ever Golden West Invitational with a national mile record of 4:10.0 in 1961. The top ten senior mile runners in the US were invited. He later ran for the Quantico Marines.

Groth won the 800 meters at the 1964 U.S. Olympic Trials, but due in part to an injury prior to the Olympics, did not qualify for the finals.

Groth ran collegiately for Oregon State University, Class of 1965. He set the U.S. record for the 880 in 1965, was the NCAA Champion in the mile, and was a two-time All-American. He is a member of the OSU Athletic Hall of Fame and now an inductee of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.

Prior to college, Groth ran for Alhambra High School in his hometown of Martinez, California.  In 1961, he finished second in the mile at the CIF California State Meet.

Martin Hawkins - Track & Field

1982

Martin William Hawkins (February 20, 1888 – October 27, 1959)

The 1912 120-yard hurdles bronze medalist at the Stockholm Olympics twice tied the world record of 15.2 in his specialty in addition to reigning as Oregon's top point-scorer all three years. The former team captain attended law school at his alma mater and served as a Portland attorney, and remained as one of the state's most distinguished judges for many years. 

Hawkins was an innovative trainer and developer of the Ducks’ track tradition as head coach for 43 years.

Jerry Tarr - Track & Field

1982

Gerald LaVern Tarr attended the University of Oregon, where he was a two-sport athlete in football and track. In track, Tarr was a member of Oregon's 4 x 110 yard relay team with Mike Gaechter, Harry Jerome, and Mel Renfro, which set a world record in 1962.

Tarr's main event, however, was the 120-yard hurdles.  He was the first athlete to win back-to-back NCAA itles in the high hurdles in 1961 and 1962, and in doing so, helped Oregon win its first ever NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship in 1962.

Like his relay mates Renfro and Gaechter, Tarr decided to play professional football rather than continue his track career. He played one season with the Denver Broncos of the AFL in 1962.

Tarr is also an inductee of the University of Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame and now the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame Class of 1982.

George Varoff - Track & Field

1982

Three-time national champion at Oregon, setting world pole vault records of 14-4 in 1937 and 14-7 5/8 in 1939.  A three-time Olympic vaulter, he set a world mark of 14-6 ½ in 1936 – all in the days when vaulting was done with a bamboo pole.  Varoff was a three-time Northern Division champion (1937-1939) and Pacific Coast champion in 1938.

1983

Steve Prefontaine - Track & Field

1983

Steve Prefontaine was the greatest distance runner in the history of Oregon track and field. A native of Coos Bay, “Pre” was the first collegian to capture four consecutive 3-mile/5000 meter gold medals at the NCAA championships (1970-73). He also earned three NCAA cross-country titles (1970,71,73).

Prefontaine owned every record from 2 miles to 6 miles (and metric equivalents) at the time of his death in a 1975 auto accident. He set a national high school record in the two mile (8:41.5) in 1968, and earned a spot on the UO’s exclusive sub-4 club with a 3:57.4 mile, the second fastest in high school history. He placed 4th in the 5000 meters at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Quote: “My real goals are just to run as fast as I am physically able. I don’t really know my limits. So far, nothing has been too hard. I’m still improving and until that stops I can’t predict anything”.

1990

Joni Huntley - Track & Field

1990

Joni Huntley starred in the high jump in high school, college and won the bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Summer Games.

Born in 1956, Huntley grew up in Sheridan and was a standout in track and field, winning six state titles from 1972-74. In 1974, she won the 100-yard dash, the 100-meter high hurdles and set a national high school record by clearing 6-feet in the high jump, which helped Sheridan tie Madras for the Class 3A state title. Huntley's 6-foot jump established a state meet record, which entered the 2013 track and field season as the oldest OSAA championship meet record at any classification.

Later in '74, she won the first of four consecutive national titles in the high jump.
Huntley moved to Corvallis for college and, in 1975, won conference titles for Oregon State in the high hurdles, long jump and high jump before winning national titles in the high jump and long jump. She won gold in the high jump at the 1975 Mexico City Pan-Am Games. In 1976, she cleared 6-feet-2 3/4 inches, which established an Oregon State record that had yet to be broken through 2012. She competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Summer Games, and finished eighth. 

Huntley continued to train through the 1980 Olympic boycott and finished third in the '84 Games before retiring.

She was inducted to the Oregon State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

1991

Margaret Johnson-Bailes - Track & Field

1991

Margaret Johnson Bailes remains one of Oregon’s greatest prep sprinters and won a Gold Medal in the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics as a member of the 4x100 relay team while still in high school. And then, she disappeared from the national and world scene.

Bailes grew up in Eugene and was discovered at age 9 after winning an all-comers meet while wearing a dress and dress shoes she had on because she originally planned to attend a movie with friends. Local coach Wendy Jerome, wife of coaching legend Harry Jerome, saw her run and began directing her talent. Because of her speed, she regularly ran against boys and then college men.  

Bailes attended Churchill High School and, as a junior in 1968, helped the Lancers finish second to Sheldon in the first OSAA state meet, which consisted of 11 events. She won the 100- and 200-yard finals and ran a leg on the winning 440-yard relay team.

That year, she also ran 11.1 in the 100 meters, equaling the world record, and 22.95 in the 200, which was an American record. She won the 200 and finished second in the 100 at the U.S. Olympic Trials, but contracted pneumonia prior to the Olympics and finished only fifth in the 100 and seventh in the 200. She ran the second leg for the 4x100 relay team, which won and established a world record at 42.8 seconds.

Following the Games, she learned she was pregnant and became a parent along with husband Eddie Bailes. They moved from Eugene the following year, and she never ran in a meet again.

Despite her short career, her accomplishments were significant and she was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. In 2009, the renovated track she practiced on near Churchill High School was named for her.

1994

Mac Wilkins - Track & Field

1994

Two-time Olympian Mac Wilkins captured a gold medal in the discus at the 1976 Montreal Olympic games and a silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He was the 1976 Hayward Award winner as Oregon’s top amateur athlete. Mac established a world discus record on four separate occasions. He won the national AAU discus championship an incredible six times. 1973 was and outstanding year for the former University of Oregon start as Wilkins won both the NCAA discus title and the PAC-8 title.

1997

Alberto Salazar - Track & Field

1997

As a prep athlete, Alberto Salazar was ranked #1 in the nation in the 5000-meter by Track and Field News. In 1977, he captained the U.S.A. Junior Track and Field Team. While at the University of Oregon, Salazar was a member of the 1980 U.S Olympic Track and Filed Team and was named the Ducks’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Salazar won the New York City Marathon three years in a row (1980-82), setting a world and American record in 1981 with a time of 2:08:13. In 1981-82, he was ranked the #1 marathon runner in the world and in the top ten for the 10,000 meter, 5K and 10K runs.

He was named Runner of the Year in 1981 by Running Times magazine, and again in 1982 by both Runner’s World and the Runner. In 1982, he set a course record time of 2:08:51 to win the Boston Marathon.

2001

Rudy Chapa - Track & Field

2001

One of the University of Oregon’s greatest and most versatile distance runners and the only one other than Steve Prefontaine that is the top-10 ranked for the Ducks in the 1,500 meter, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. During his career, Rudy was an NCAA champion in the 5K in 1978, three-time track All-American in the 5K (1978, 1979, 1981), four-time All-American in the cross country, and two-time Pac-8/10 1,500 champion. At the U.S. level, he held the American record in the 3,000 and was the top-ranked American 5K runner in 1979 as a collegiate junior (also second in the 1978 and 10th in 1980), and was 10th ranked in the 1,500 in 1978. His 1978 NCAA 5K title (with cheers of ‘Rudy, Rudy” from the thousands of fans at UO’s Hayward Field) is one of Track City USA’s most celebrated memories (along with his American record in the 3K a year later which broke Pre’s former mark). He also was a favorite for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team in the 5,000 but suffered an injury.

He is the former Oregon record holder in the 5,000 meters (13:19.22), which still ranks him second at UO and also second all-time among American collegians behind former teammate Bill McChesney Jr. For the Ducks, he also still ranks sixth in the 1,500 (and second when he ran it back in 1979), seventh in the mile (3:57.04), and fifth in the 10,000 (28:51.1, 1977). On the all-time U.S. list, Rudy still ranks sixth in the 3,000 (7:37.70) with his then-American record from Oregon Twilight, 17th in the 5K(13:19.22) and 31st in the marathon (2:11.13 New York marathon debut in 1983).

One of the most celebrated U.S. prep track stars, Chapa still owns the U.S. junior 10K record (28:32.7 which was a world junior record) from the 1976 Drake Relays which qualified him for the 1976 Olympic Trials as a high school senior. He still owns Indiana state championship records of 4:04.20 (1,600) and 8:55.10 (3,200). Overall, he won or shared four state titles in track and field and cross-country.

2004

Mary Slaney - Track & Field

2004

Mary Slaney moved to Eugene in 1979 and began training at South Eugene High School with Nike's Athletics West track team.

She went on to become the only athlete to hold U.S. track records from 800 to 10,000 meters. In 1982, she set world records in the mile (4:18.08), 2,000 meters (5:32.7), 3,000 indoors (8:47.3), 5,000 (15:08.26) and 10,000 (31:35.3) and received the Sullivan Award as the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. Slaney won both the 1,500 and 3,000 at the 1983 world championships in Helsinki, Finland.

During her illustrious running career, she set 36 national records and 17 world records, despite repeated injuries. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame.

2005

Dave Johnson - Track & Field

2005

Dave's family moved to Corvallis and he began to take sports very seriously during his senior year at Crescent Valley High School. He attended Western Oregon and Linn-Benton Community College and then he moved on to Azusa Pacific. In 1986, this decathlete won his first of four U.S. Track and Field National Championships with an 8203w. He racked up the world's highest scores in both 1989 and 1990 with 8549 and 8600w points, respectively. He also co-held the American record in the javelin, won the World University Games, and was ranked 2nd in the World.

This two-time Olympian won the decathlon Bronze Medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games while competing on a broken foot. USA Today tabbed Dave as the "world's best known bronze medalist". He became famous around the country on a first name basis thanks to Reebok who ran television and print ads featuring the dueling "Dan vs. Dave" ads which asked the question "Who will be the world's greatest athlete?" Dave is currently working as an Assistant Vice Principal and Athletic Director of a high school in Oregon.

Dan O'Brien - Track & Field

2005

Born in Portland, Dan O'Brien attended Henley High School in Klamath Falls. In 1984, he was selected as a high school decathlon All-American. He then went on to attend the University of Idaho and in 1989 was named the Big Sky Track Athlete of the Year. In 1991, he won the first of his five United States Track and Field National Championships. Dan went on to win three World Championships and was ranked as the world's top decathlete six times between 1991 and 1998.

In 1992, he set the Decathlon World Record of 8891 points. He also set a World Record in the indoor Heptathlon, won a Gold Medal at the 1994 Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia and his dominance of the Decathlon made Dan a household name leading up to the 1996 Olympic Games. In 1996, he won the gold medal in Atlanta and earned the title of "World's Greatest Athlete". Dan currently resides in Arizona and works as a network television commentator for Track & Field events.

2007

Lance Deal - Track & Field

2007

Lance Deal’s earliest athletic achievements included All-State honors in football, wrestling and track at Natrona high School in Casper, Wyoming. He went on to graduate from Montana State university in Bozeman, Montana. He competed is the 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000 summer Olympic Games, winning a silver medal in 1996 in Atlanta in the hammer throw.

Deal finished second in the hammer at the 1989 and 1994 World Cup and at the 1998 Goodwill Games, and is a two-time Pan Am Games Champion. He  is a four-time Olympian, he holds the U.S. hammer throw record of 82.52 meters/270 feet, 9 inches and was ranked #1 in the world in that event in 1996. Lance is the owner of 12 U.S. Indoor 35-lb. weight-throw titles.

He retired after the 2001 season, but he returned to win the 2002 Men's National Hammer Title. Deal is currently an assistant shot, discus and hammer coach at University of Oregon. He will oversee all four throws events for both Oregon men’s and women’s units in 2007-08 for the fifth straight season.

2011

Kelly Blair-LaBounty - Track & Field

2011

Kelly Blair-LaBounty is widely regarded as being among the University of Oregon’s greatest student athletes having won the NCAA Heptathlon title as a junior and qualifying for two Olympic Games.

Born in 1970, Kelly Blair grew up in central Washington and won two basketball state titles as well as 10 individual titles in track and field at Prosser High School. She won the USA Track and Field Junior national title in 1989 in the heptathlon.

Blair moved to Eugene as a two-sport athlete, but focused on track after two seasons on the basketball team (1990-92).

In 1993, she won the Pac-10 and then NCAA title in the heptathlon and won the Bronze medal at the World University Games. In ’96, she won the U.S. National title and qualified for the Atlanta Summer Olympic Games, where she finished eighth. She again won the US title in ’97 and ’98 and qualified for the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics, but did not compete due to injury.

Following her athletic career, she became a coach at Seattle Pacific University, the University of Oregon and married former Oregon football standout Matt LaBounty.

She was inducted to the Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

2015

Leann Warren - Track & Field

2015

Lee Ann Warren 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.

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.  And now, we welcome Leann Warren to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.

2017

Ashton Eaton - Track & Field

2017

IT IS INDISPUTABLE THAT THE WORLD’S GREATEST ATHLETE AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT IS THE CURRENT WORLD RECORD HOLDER IN THE DECATHLON.

OREGON’S VERY OWN ASHTON EATON HOLDS THAT TITLE, EVEN IN THE FIRST YEAR OF HIS RETIREMENT FOLLOWING AN AMAZING COMPEITIVE CAREER.

EATON’S BODY OF WORK IS SPECTACULAR.  5 TIME NCAA CHAMPION COMPETING FOR THE MEN OF OREGON; MULTIPLE WORLD RECORDS IN BOTH THE DECATHLON AND INDOOR HEPTATHLON; 5 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THE MULTI-EVENTS AND BACK-TO-BACK OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS IN DECATHLON.

THAT IS A FEAT ONLY TWO OTHER MEN HAVE EVER ACHIEVED, BOB MATHIAS AND DALEY THOMPSON, BOTH LEGENDS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT.

IT IS SAID THAT DECATHLON IS AN EVENT THAT FINDS THE ATHLETE.  A YOUNG ASHTON EATON WAS A FOOTBALL PLAYER AND SPRINTER AT MOUNTAIN VIEW HIGH SCHOOL IN BEND.  A STATE HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPION IN THE 400 AND LONG JUMP, EATON THOUGHT HIS FUTURE WOULD BE A 2-SPORT ATHLETE AT A SMALL COLLEGE.   

IT TOOK SOME NUDGING FROM HIS HIGH SCHOOL COACH TATE METCALF TO PERSUE THE GRUELING 10-EVENT COMPEITION THAT MAKES UP THE DECATHLON AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON.

WHEN EATON ARRIVED ON CAMPUS. HE HAD NEVER COMPETED IN 7 OF THE 10 EVENTS.  THERE WAS EXCELLENT COACHING TO BE HAD FROM DAN STEELE AND LATER HARRY MARRA.

EATON QUICKLY EMERGED AS A RISING STAR.  2^ND PLACE AT THE PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS, 3^RD AT USA JUNIORS AND A TRIP TO THE PAN AM JUNIORS.

THE GOLD MEDALS AND THE RECORD SETTING BEGAN SOON AFTERWARD.  BY THE END OF HIS COLLEGE CAREER ASHTON EATON WAS THE FIRST EVER COLLEGIAN TO WIN THREE CONSECUTIVE DECATHLON TITLES.

EATON’S ABILITY TO TRULY DOMINATE THE MULTI-EVENT WAS FIRST REVEALED IN THE 2012 USA OLYMPIC TRIALS.  ASHTON SET DECATHLON WORLD RECORDS IN THE 100 METERS AND THE LONG JUMP AND BY THE END OF THE SECOND DAY HAD BROKEN THE AMERICAN AND WORLD RECORDS WITH AN INCREDIBLE 9039 POINTS.   ONE YEAR AFTER WINNING HIS FIRST OLYMPIC GOLD IN LONDON, HE MARRIED FELLOW MULTI-EVENT STAR BRIANNE THEISEN.

EATON BROKE HIS OWN RECORD THREE YEARS LATER AT THE 2015 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN BEIJING.

ASHTON’S PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING AND COMPETING TO SIMPLY TRY TO IMPROVE ON WHAT YOU DO EACH AND EVERY DAY.

ASHTON EATON HAS RETIRED ON TOP OF HIS SPORT.  HE HAS BIG IDEAS ON WHAT TO DO THE REST OF HIS LIFE FOCUSING ON THE HEALTH OF THE PLANET AND WAYS TO HELP PEOPLE LIVE BETTER LIVES.  EATON ALSO SHOWED HE IS STILL A DANGEROUS COMPETITOR APPEARING ON AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR.

THE WORLD’S GREATEST ATHLETE IS STILL LIVING OUT HIS LEGACY.  WELCOME ASHTON EATON TO THE OREGON SPORTS HALL OF FAME.

Brianne Theisen-Eaton - Track & Field

2017

A CANADIAN CHAMPION, A PROUD REPRESENTATIVE OF OREGON.  BRIANNE THEISEN-EATON HAS LEFT THE DEMANDING CAREER OF MULTI-EVENT TRACK AND FIELD AT THE TOP OF HER GAME.

A SMALL-TOWN KID FROM RURAL SASKATCHEWAN, THEISEN WON COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIPS AT OREGON AND GOLD MEDALS IN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION.  SHE IS THE FIRST AND ONLY CANADIAN WOMAN TO STAND ON THE WORLD PODIUM IN MULTI-EVENTS.

BRIANNE THEISEN WAS A THREE-SPORT ATHLETE IN HER HIGH SCHOOL DAYS BUT STOOD OUT ON THE TRACK.  ENCOURAGED BY HER COACH, TODD JOHNSTON, SHE QUICKLY PICKED UP ALL SEVEN EVENTS OF THE MULTI-EVENT HEPTAHLON AND QUALIFED FOR THE WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS.  HER SENIOR YEAR, BRIANNE BROUGHT HOME THE GOLD FROM THE JUNIOR PAN-AM CHAMPIONSHIPS IN BRAZIL.  THAT’S ALSO WHERE SHE CONNECTED WITH FUTURE HUSBAND ASHTON EATON.

RECRUITED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, BRIANNE WAS 2^ND IN THE PAC-10 HEPTAHLON AND 4^TH IN THE COUNTRY AS A FRESHMAN 

2009 WAS HER BREAKOUT YEAR, HER PERSONAL BEST PERFORMANCE WON THE NCAA TITLE AND LANDED HER A SPOT IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS.

RETURNING FROM INJURY IN 2012, BRIANNE WAS BACK AT IT, RE-SETTING THE COLLEGIATE AND CANADIAN PENTATHLON RECORDS.  SHE WOULD WIN HER THIRD COLLEGE TITLE INDOORS AND OUTDOORS.

A SECOND PLACE FINISH AT THE CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS SENT HER TO THE LONDON OLYMPICS.  SHE FOLLOWED THAT UP WITH THE SILVER MEDAL AT THE 2013 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS.

THAT WAS THE YEAR SHE MARRIED FELLOW MULTI EVENT STAR ASHTON EATON MAKING THE ULTIMATE TRACK AND FIELD POWER COUPLE.

BRIANNE CAPTURED THE GOLD MEDAL AT THE 2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES THEN GRABBED SILVER AGAIN AT THE 2015 WORLDS.

HER FINAL SEASON WAS THE OLYMPIC YEAR OF 2016.  THEISEN-EATON WON THE WORLD INDOOR TITLE AND COLLECTED OLYMPIC BRONZE IN RIO.  DURING A RUN IN NOVEMBER, SHE KNEW IT WAS TIME TO RETIRE FROM COMPEITION.

STILL, IT IS HARD TO CALL BRIANNE RETIRED.  SHE SIGNED UP FOR A GYM MEMBERSHIP THE DAY AFTER ENDING HER COMPETITIVE CAREER.  SHE HAS ALSO STARTED A NUTRITION EDUCATION BLOG AND IS IN TRAINING TO RUN HER FIRST MARATHON IN CHICAGO ON OCTOBER 8.

WELCOME BRIANNE THEISEN-EATON TO THE OREGON SPORTS HALL OF FAME.