Oregon daily emerald., April 06, 1973, Page 13, Image 13

Oregon-Huskie track
r
Ducks want
early lead
Bill Dellinger wants to get an early lead in his first dual
meet as Oregon’s head track coach.
He may have to if he wants to win the Pac-8 encounter with
Washington’s Huskies at 1 p.m. Saturday in Hayward Field.
Even though the Dudes took it to the Huskies 109-54 in last
year’s dual in Seattle, Dellinger knows Washington can give his
team all they can handle this year in the high jump (Darryl
LaVerdue, 6-10), pole vault (Jeff Taylor and Gary Dankworth,
both over 16 feet), javelin (NCAA runner-up Gary Quitsland has
the third best college throw in the nation this spring, 251-6) and
hurdles (both Terry Lavery and Brian Mondschein handled
Oregon’s Paul Wilkinson easily in the 440-intermediates at
Bakersfield and should score easily against the Ducks’ two
freshman entries in the 120-highs.)
Knowing all this, Dellinger is going to lead with his strength,
putting Steve Prefontaine in the one-mile run.
“We need a victory there to set the tempo of the meet. We
need a sure thing and that’s why we’re running Pre,” says
Dellinger.
The addition of Pre to a field of Oregon milers that indudes
on-again-off-again sophomores Mark Feig and Scott Daggatt,
should make the early tempo-setter an interesting race.
Washington will countin’ with Bob Brandon, 4:10.1, but eighth in
the Pac-8 meet last year, and Rick Albright, 4:10.2 this spring
but fourth — and ahead of all Oregon finishers — in the Pac-8
last year.
Daggatt ran the tenth best mile in the nation this spring
while defeating Albright in Bakersfield, but both he and Feig
have been inconsistent.
“That’s why I’m running Pre in the mile. I think Daggatt
and Feig could go one-two there, but I’m just not sure... they’re
so inconsistent.”
Other dose races Saturday should indude the mile relay
and the 880-yard run, where sophomore Steve Bence (the
nation’s third best half-miler and sixth best miler this spring)
continues his rivalry with Washington freshman Greg Gibson
(1:50.0 and fifth in the nation). Gibson beat Bence indoors at
Portland but the Oregon sophomore has come back to beat
Gibson the last two times they’ve met.
Half-mfler Sieve Bence
He owns third-fastest 880 time in nation (1:49.7), battles Greg
Gibson (1:50.0) Saturday in Oregon-Washington dual meet.
Anderson has five
RBIs? Ducks win
FOREST GROVE — Bob Anderson was the hitting star
Thursday as Oregon beat Pacific 12-7 for its seventh victory in 10
games.
Next is a crucial three-game series with Washington State,
beginning today with a single game at Howe Field at 3 p.m.
Coach Mel Krause has named Mike Shoup, unbeaten at 2-0 and
with a lifetime mark of 9-0, to pitch the opener. Saturday the
Ducks will pitch Steve Townsend and Steve Miller in a
doubleheader.
The Ducks bounced in front of Pacific after three innings on
the strength of Anderson’s three-run double and Dave Roberts’
bases-loaded walk.
Oregon scored five more in the fourth inning, and Anderson
accounted for two of those with a two-run homer.
The Boxers cut it to 9-7 in the eighth, but with two gone in the
ninth the Ducks scored three more times to ice it.
A tough act to follow;
Dellinger carries on
Bowerman tradition
By BOB WELCH
Of the Emerald
It began in 1904 with a man named Colonel
William Hayward. As head track coach at the
University of Oregon, Hayward began a
tradition of successful cinder squads until he
stepped down in 1948.
One of his ex-runners, a lanky lad who had
run the quartermile so poorly he admits today “I
was lucky to even be on the team,” took over the
reins. His name was Bill Bowerman and in 24
years he proved he could coach better than he
could run. So much better, in fact, that he
became the finest track and field coach America
has ever seen.
And now, as the legendary Bowerman steps
down to concentrate fully on campaigning for the
restoration of the creaky west grandstands at
Hayward Field, he. like Hayward, leaves one of
his ex-runners to uphold the highly-successful
Duck track program.
His name is Bill Dellinger, an assistant to
Bowerman for the past five years, a one-time
national and Olympic distance ace and a track
coach at nearby Thurston High School for six
years. Most importantly, though, is the fact that
Photo by Steve Twedt
in all three endeavors Dellinger was open to the
influence of the great teacher — Bowerman
himself.
“Being associated with Bowerman for the
last 20 years, some of his influence has to rub off
on you,” says Dellinger, who turned 40 on the day
that Be ’ verm an announced his retirement. “The
counsel I’ve received from him over the years
has been . . . well . . . there’s just no way of
putting a value on it.”
Dellinger first met Bowerman, who already
had a high reputation as a track coach, as a
freshman at Grants Pass High School. Moving to
Springfield as a sophomore, Dellinger met oc
casionally with Bowerman for workouts, but in
the meantime made plans for attending Oregon
State’s school of forestry.
Then he changed his mind. After winning the
state mile and half mile titles as a senior, he
threw away his applications to OSU and “came
to Oregon to run for Bowerman.”
That he did. Dellinger’s college career in
cluded winning the NCAA mile championship in
1954, placing second to teammate Jim Bailey in
the 1955 NCAA mile and winning the 1956 NCAA
5000 meter championship, besides gamering the
PC( Pacific Coast Conference) distance titles
in as many years.
After college, he held the American record
for the 1500 meter run in 3:41.5. Dellinger also
held two world indoor records at one time in 1969
— the two mile in 8:49.9 and the three mile in
13:37.0.
His encore included three Olympic 5000
meter runs — 1956, 1960 and 1964 — the latter in
which he finished a highly-successful third.
Dellinger — like he does so often — com
pliments his teacher for his success.
“When I was running for him, he (Bower
man) did things for me that I think were largely
responsible for me doing as well as I did.”
After a three year stint in the Air Force,
Dellinger returned to Oregon and completed
work for his M.Ed. degree in Education. He then
coached at Springfield’s Thurston High School
from i960 through 1966, all the time com
municating with Bowerman “at least weekly for
tips on improving my own track program. __
“In the back of my mind I suppose I always
thought it would be nice to be coaching at the U of
O someday.”
Someday came in the summer of 1967.
Dellinger joined the Duck staff as an assistant
track coach and head cross country coach. His
cross country teams won the NCAA cham
pionship in 1971, was runner-up in 1970 and third
in 1972 and 1969. His work with the track team
was successful. Dellinger had made the grade.
As an assistant coach, Dellinger’s praise for
Bowerman continued. “He’d give me something
to do and allow me to do it without stepping in
and trying to tell me how to do it. That’s a tough
thing for a man to do. I respected him and knew
him well enough to do the job to the best of my
ability.”
Dellinger sees no great changes in the
Oregon trade program. “My philosophies are
very similar to Bowerman’s and any changes
will probably be only minor ones.
“I’m personally dedicating my coaching on
the tradition and building on to the foundation
that Bill Hayward and Bill Bowerman have
started here at Oregon.”
As head coach, Dellinger’s duties will not
change drastically. The difference is that he
must do more of everything — coaching,
recruiting and office work.
Bill Dellinger is now a much busier man than
before. Last Wednesday is a prime example....
He talks with athletic director Norv Ritchey.
Once in his office, a room he shares with
Bowerman that is clad like wallpaper in All
American awards, Dellinger answers a phone
call. Bowerman 'explains the screw threads of his
latest trade shoe while Dellinger listens from the
phone. A runner comes in. He must miss a
meeting. Dellinger says OK. The interview
begins with a local reporter. The phone rings. It
is UCLA coach Jim Bush and he’s unhappy with
the scoring system Dellinger has proposed for
Saturday’s four-way meet with Oregon,
Nebraska and Washington State. Dellinger
doesn’t budge but tells Bush he’ll talk to
Bowerman and Ritchey and call back. They chat
for a while. Bush asks how things are going.
“Hectic,” says Dellinger. “I’m one step behind
the whole way.”
Yet while Dellinger is much busier now, he
says he doesn’t feel much pressure in facing the
task of maintaining the outstanding track
program developed by Bowerman, one of the
nation’s best.
“I really don’t feel the pressure ... maybe I
should. I just feel about this job as I would if I
were getting ready to compete in a race. I’m
here to do my best job in carrying on the
tradition of Oregon track.”
Bowerman calls Hayward “the most ■
amazing man anyone ever knew.”
Dellinger calls Bowerman “the greatest :
track and field coach in the world.”
It makes you wonder what words of priase i
Dellinger’s successor will offer him when he :
steps down after his reign.
Bill Bowerman is a tough act to follow.