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Photo by Bob Baker
Though Hurd says his “season was shot", Dellinger hopes his premiere jumper will
be ready for the Pac-10 Championships.
It’s hard for Hurd
Star jumper has had several setbacks
By Sieve Friedman
For tho CmoroU
With record-breaking style, Lamar
Hurd leaped into the limelight on the
Oregon track team last year.
As a freshman, he jumped 51 -9% in the
triple jump, eclipsing the old mark by 9%
inches.
"It's hard to explain," Hurd says of his
record jump in the Washington meet. "It
felt like the greatest thing that could
happen at the time. The crowd was
behind me, and I wanted to go out and
break it again on my next jump."
There was special meaning for
"Hangtime” (a nickname he earned for
his tremendous leaping ability) in that
meet It marked the first time he jumped
against his high school friend and rival
Aaron Williams
"When I was talking to Aaron, we just
joked around about old times We didn't
do any psyching-out jobs ." Hurd admit
ted, however, “In my mind, I was thinking
'I'm going to beat you today .' "
And beat him he did — placing his
name into the school record books
But things did not go well for Hurd after
that “I peaked out too early in the sea
son I felt fatigued, sluggish and my
adrenalin just wasn't pumping the way it
usually did," he says
The next week, Hurd hurt his heel in a
meet against Auburn "My season took a
turn tor the worse after that," he says
with a frown
When the Pacific 10 Conference
championships came, it proved to be too
strenuous on Hurd's heel
"After my first jump, my heel was hurt
ing bad," he says "But I decided to keep
on jumping — to go for it. I knew it might
be my last meet of the season "
Hurd finished 10th in both the long and
triple jumps
"It was disappointing," he says, "but I
was thankful I had the chance to go — I
definitely have plans to be in the top six
next year ”
As the summer rolled around, Hurd
seemed willing to train diligently for the
upcoming season
“I worked out real hard during the
summer and got back in the groove — I
felt I could jump 53 feet," he said
With high hopes for a great season, he
returned to the Oregon campus only to
find a suprise waiting
"The coach came up and wanted me
to run hurdles this year," Hurd says. He
agreed and started training tor both
hurdles and jumping events.
‘‘He looked superb on the hurdles,"
says sprint coach Dennis Whitby "He
was going to be our No. 3 man He is very
smooth "
But injuries to the versatile athlete's
left leg set in and struck a serious blow
against his hopes for another outstand
ing season
"We had a tough hurdle workout, and
afterward we had a sprint workout I had
only one more lap to go, and we were
emphasizing high knees on the last 55
yards When I started lifting my knees, my
left leg tightened up I stopped right
there I went immediately to the trainer
and iced it "
"Of course I'd like to take that day
away," Whitby says, “but I can’t change
things now "
Hurd was understandably apprehen
sive about training during the next week:
*‘l never had any problems with my mus
cles before — it was a new experience for
me."
Two weeks after the strain on his leg,
He went with the track team to Santa
Barbara for a meet On his first jump, he
pulled his hamstring — on the same leg
which he strained before
This was a case of coming back too
soon from an injury — Hurd regrets it
now
But is it too late?
"I saw the trainer last Monday, and we
both agreed my season was shot,” Hurd
says
Despite the injuries that have caused
him to miss most of the remaining meets
on the Ducks' schedule, Hurd will con
tinue to train and hope to be ready for the
Pacific 10 Championships meet at
Hayward Field on May 21-22
Whitby's optimism is apparent, How
ever "We took a gamble on him out of
high school, and it paid off," he says
“He is probably the most talented
athlete I've worked with as far as aware
ness and body control go But only time
will tell ”
Head track coach Bill Dellinger seems
even more optimistic and says, "I'm
going to compete him if I possibly can
Even if it's just for the Pac-10
Championships "
Hurd is anxious but also cautious
about his return He does not want
another injury
‘Til be back, stronger and healthier —
gunnin' for the record books "
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