One wintry day back in 1918, a skinny
freshman from Portland — Dick Sunderleaf
was his name — was jogging a few laps around
the Kincaid Field track on the University cam
pus. He was trying to get back into shape after
suffering a kidney injury during football
practice.
Track coach Bill Hayward was watching the
kid run, and stopped him.
“Do you smoke?" he asked.
“No, sir, " the kid replied.
“Do you drink?"
“No, sir."
"Then," said Hayward with a knowing
twinkle in his eye, “you'll run the 440."
Sixty-three years later, and only 440 yards
from that very spot, Sunderleaf recalled
Hayward while Oregon’s track team met Cal
Berkeley at the field named in the coach's
honor. •
“He had an amazing knack for being able to
watch an athlete's coordination and
movements and just being able to tell what
he'd be good in. And he was usually right,”
said Sunderleaf, now 81 and still working as a
Portland architect. He got his B.S. from the
University in 1923.
Hayward coached at Oregon from 1904 to
1947, as well as being on the coaching staff for
six Olympic games.
Sunderleaf said Hayward’s workouts also
reflected his knowledge of what was best for
the athletes.
“We did a lot of distance and cross country
running in the early spring,” he said, “and
there wasn’t a lot of pressure But then, around
May, he put on the white hat.”
The white hat?
“The white hat. When he put that on,
everyone was worked real hard," said
Sunderleaf. “We’d have races — several of
them — in practice. That’s the only time he’d
wear that hat, when he wanted us to work. And
we did."
Sunderleaf ran the first leg of the mile relay
as well as the quarter. His best 440, according
to the 1922 Oregana, came against Oregon
Agricultural College in Corvallis, when he won
“in a walk" at 51.2.
“We ran on Kincaid Field my first season,
then Hayward Field was built,” he said. Kincaid
Dick Sunderleaf ran the 440 for Oregon 63 years ago, today he recalls his days as part
of the Ducks running tradition begun by Bill Hayward.
Bill Hayward, Oregon track coach from 1903 to 1947, established a program that flourished on mutual
respect between athletes and a coach who could get the best from them.
The man in the white hat
Coach Bill Hayward made a lasting impression
on Oregon track, recollects one early athlete
Field used to be where Chapman Hall is locat
ed. The first Hayward grandstand, erected in
1919, was demolished eight years ago and
replaced by the new west grandstand. The east
stand was added in 1924.
“I remember my first race,” he said. “In the
spring, Hayward worked me out in several
events, but I hadn’t run the 440. When the time
came for the 440, Hayward told me to get in
there.
”l said, Mr. Hayward, I’ve never run this race
in my life!’ But he told me to do it, so I asked him
how to run it. He said, ‘See this line here? Stand
behind it, and when the gun goes off, you run.’
That’s all he told me!
"So I got the pole, and I was really nervous,
but I came in first. The freshmen and the varsity
ran that race together — there were two other
freshmen and three varsity quartermilers —
and I beat the varsity.
‘‘When I came home (Sunderleaf lived in the
old Kappa Sigma house), they tubbed me.
They filled a tub with ice and water and they
kept dunking me into it.”
But Sunderleaf soon got used to water.
“We ran on dirt, so it got real muddy, but we
ran in the rain anyway. At the University of
Washington, the track faces the lake. One
meet, the gale winds were coming across, and
there must have been two inches of water on
the cinder. If you weren't running in front, you
got all black from the wet cinder flying all over
you.”
But, Sunderleaf remembers, Hayward kept
the athletes loose despite bitter conditions.
"He’d rub us with capsicum vaseline — I
think it was made with hot pepper — and it’d
keep us warm. He'd also put us in hot tubs and
put in absorbine.”
Sunderleaf did some work as a rubdown
artist for the team, and Hayward once sur
prised the masseuse Sunderleaf on a road
meet.
"I didn’t think I was going to run, and I was
rubbing a quartermiler when the third call
came. Hayward came up to me and told me to
run in his place.
"It surprised me, and it didn't make the other
guy too happy, but I didn't get as nervous that
time because there wasn't any time to think
about it.
"I got nervous the night before meets. I
couldn't sleep, and I’d kick around on the bed
all night long.”
Sunderleaf said that Hayward was always
coming up with similar clever ways to deal with
his athletes.
‘‘He had one high jumper, Skinny Har
greaves, who smoked cigars all the time.
Hayward would catch him smoking off cam
pus. Skinny would see Hayward coming, and
he’d put the cigar in his pocket.
‘‘But Hayward knew what was going on, so
he’d stand there for 30 minutes, talking to him,
so it’d burn a hole in his pocket.
‘‘Another time, a movie star named Lucille
Love came to Eugene. A sprinter had a
convertible car, so he cut practice one day and
drove her around the city. Hayward found out
and called him up, and the first thing (Hayward)
said to him was, 'Hi, Lucille.’
‘‘He was always doing things like that to keep
us in line. He was strong on discipline, but he
wasn’t too hard-nosed about it. He had an
interest in people, he didn't play favorites —
and I liked that.
''He’d get the best out of his athletes. Those
who stuck with him appreciated that he was a
good coach.”
Apparently there was mutual respect
between the athlete and his coach. Hayward
was quoted in a 1923 Emerald story as saying,
“I wish I had more men like Sunderleaf, always
plugging, never giving up. That's what we need
right now.”
Sunderleaf is still plugging away — he's been
been an active member of the Multnomah
Athletic Club in Portland since the 1930s and
still plays handball there three times every
week.
"I like to stay in shape and to stay competi
tive. Hayward helped us appreciate that atti
tude.
"I've looked back all these years, and I feel
good to know that I made some contribution,
however small, to the same track program that
Hayward was a part of. It was good to be a part
of a winning program. The winners make
history, and the losers make excuses.”
But, Sunderleaf points out, passing years
have a way of changing things.
"The older you get, the faster you run "
By Jim Vitti
Photos courtesy ot University Archives
ATHLETC
343-1288
115 W. Broadway
on the downtown mall
Vl-F 9:00-5:30
• Sat. 9:00-5:00
SHOE SALE
EXTRAVAGANZA!
OFF ANY SHOE INSTOCK
(sale shoes not included)
ADIDAS, PUMA, NIKE, TIGER,
NEW BALANCE, BROOKS. . .
1 U. of O. students from Medford,
| Roseburg, Bend, Pendleton, and Newport: 1
| join in the legislative lobbying effort for higher education.
| The House Committee on Revenue is going on a field trip to
| your town to discuss the Governor’s Tax Program. A good
jjj turnout of students at these hearings will demonstrate that we
5 do care. If you will be home for the weekend or can possibly
E make it, please try to attend one of these hearings and support
| higher education. The schedule is as follows:
| May 21 Medford Armory 1:00 P.M.
| May 21 Roseburg Armory 7:00 P.M.
| May 22 Bend Armory 1:00 P.M.
5 May 22 Pendleton Armory 7:00 P.M.
E May 23 Newport Armory 1:00 P.M.
S For more information, stop by the ASUO office for State and |
| University Affairs, Suite 4 EMU or call xJ724.
^iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.miiiimmiiiimmmmiumiimimiiiimimiiiiimmiiim"
TEA
HOUSE
Open Daily
4:30-10:00 PM
Beer & Wine
Served
Experience the Best Hunan &
Szechuan cuisine from the
heartland of China
Next to the
Mayflower Theatre
786 E. 11th 343-5866
Hours 11:00-6:00
<<
The Best Fries
In Town”
FREE
on Wednesday
with purchase of
$1.75 Hot Dog Order
or $2.00 Hamburger order.
Ya’all Come On Now!
Say you heard it
in the Emerald
Jeb’s
1350 Alder
NOW OPEN LATE NIGHT FOR
YOUR MUNCHING PLEASURE
MEXICAN STYLE OMELETTES
667 E. 13th
MEXICAN FOOD
The Cactus Patch
Money Saving Specials each week
Mexican & Domestic Beers
Open til 3 A.M. F ri & Sat_
fit A M to 1 A M M on -Thu rs_ _
-1
MOVING SOON? |
MOVE IT YOURSELF & SAVE 50% J
Dependable Cars, Trucks & Trailers
Low Rates
LOCAL & ONE WAY TRUCKS j
AND TRAILERS j
Reservations Now Guarantee rig
Qateo a. Equipment
TRUCK & AUTO i
COMPANY !
345-2353 j
10% Discount with copy of this ad
_ I
"V,
MONDAY & TUESDAY NIGHTS
BEER & BONES
Mug of Beer
(Under 21 gets Pepsi)
Barbeque Beef Ribs
Baked Potato
Tossed Green Salad (wMe hst!)
OREGON ELECTRIC STATION
SERVING FINE FOOD & SPIRITS
5th AND WILLAMETTE
^ (503) 485-4444 DOWNTOWN EUGENE *
V
ALL
LEATHER
JACKETS
-MR. RAGS LTD.
VALLEY RIVER CENTER 485-7290
nordstrom mall, lloyd center.Vancouver mall, bend river mall, Washington square, valley river center
and now at clackamaj town center
Pane R Rorlinn R