Forbes smart by any label
oy marcus prater
Of the Emerald
Eryn Forbes started running
with the label, "best pre-high
school runner in the nation."
The label changed to "washed
up and burned out,” as a senior
in high school Finally, it has
changed to "the second fastest
American collegiate woman at
10,000 meters.”
The Oregon cross country
and track runner has worn a tag
ever since she was a
13-year-old eighth grader who
shocked Portland-area runners
with her racing prowess
But with the cross country
national championships this fall,
the track nationals in the spring
and the Olympics in 1984, there
is room for still more labels
Right now call Eryn Forbes,
"the most experienced and
steadiest competitor," in
Oregon's long distance running
program.
We have no team capta.n, but
she is the mainstay of the team,"
Oregon track and cross country
coach Tom Heinonen said of
Forbes “She's the most exper
ienced and steadiest competitor
we have She leads by simply
being herself and approaching
running low key and intelligent
ly "
Both Heinonen and Forbes
agree intelligence is a big factor
in all forms of running, but
especially long distance run
ning
' My team doesn't run on
emotion, it runs on intelligence,
and she's the best example,"
Heinonen said
"I'd say that experience leads
to intelligence You experience
everything instead of hearing
about it," Forbes, a senior, said
As long as you keep an open
mind you will learn and an intel
ligent program is good for im
provement."
If improvement comes with an
intelligent program, Forbes cer
tainly has been attached to one
of the smartest in the country
The 21-year-old has improved
at a steady rate since coming to
Oregon from Sunset High
School in Portland Forbes ran
the 3,000 meters in 9 40 as a
high school senior, 9:31 as a
Oregon freshman, 9:22 as a so
phomore and 9:07 as a junior
She ran a 16:33 5,000 meters in
high school, a 16:29 as a fresh
man at Oregon, 16:07 as a so
phomore and — one year later —
a 15:37
"Individual improvement is
Eryn Forbes
very important to me," she said
The freshman Forbes finished
10th in the 5,000 track finals,
sixth as a sophomore and third
last season She is a four-time
All-American (three times in
track, once in cross country),
and holds the Oregon record for
5,000 (15:37 1) and 10,000
(33:31.7) meters
Not bad for someone who was
once labeled burned out
Forbes picked up the label
after a long and successful high
school career She picked up
seven state track titles and three
state cross country crowns, but
lost the 1,500 to Claudette
Groenendaal (then a so
phomore from North Salem
High School, now an Oregon
runner) as a senior She was
beaten and all of a sudden the
question of, "Is she burned
out?," came up
The phrase ‘burned out’
started popping up," Heinonen
said "But she wasn't She was
having problems She had out
grown her high school compe
tition and needed to go another
step up She also had gained
some weight through natural
maturity
"Some people saw her as be
ing washed up, because she got
beat after being untouchable as
an age-grouper." he said
"High school was really hard
for me," Forbes said "I made
the mistake of winning the state
title in my freshman year All I
could do after that was do what
was expected — win.
“There is a lot of different
kinds of pressure,” she said,
hesitantly using that word
"There are friends, the general
people you don't know, the
media, the public and your
family. Lucky enough, my family
helped more than hindered "
The family is where Forbes
picked up the sport of running
She started joining her father,
an avid runner and coach at
Portland State, on his daily
jaunts She soon was going to
organized races, or "social
things." as Forbes called them
"Age-groupers are pretty
competitive But when you're 10
years old. you don't think that
much about them You're still
fairly sheltered,'' she said
However. Forbes proved that
being socially sheltered didn't
keep her from winning age
group races She was basically
unbeatable
"She is an unique athlete,
because she wasn't pushed
hard as an age-grouper," Hein
onen said "Also, most of who
are successful before high
school, fail in high school."
She didn't fail as a prep, and
hasn't in college This cross
country season, however, with
Oregon's top runner Leann
Warren out with an injury, has
been different for Forbes
"it's hard not having Leann
around We share a lot together
— running and not running,"
Forbes said "It's a lot more
serious Nothing against any
body on the team, but every
thing is so intense When you've
been running for 12 years you
can t be intense
"Leann was my escape route
She relieved the intensity, which
is important for me. It’s just not
the same (without Leann).”
There are still a lot of deci
sions Forbes must make about
her running future. There is the
Los Angeles Olympics in two
years, but the women's 5,000 or
10.000 meters, her specialty, is
not an event.
Long distance women run
ners have a choice between the
3.000 meters or the marathon, a
situation Forbes called "an in
justice." But the Olympics is not
the only thing Forbes is thinking
about.
"A lot depends on what I do
this year Running for clubs ob
viously helps financially and
there is an Olympic year coming
up, but I tend to get bored easily
and I might work,” she said "I
definitely want to keep running.
I don't think I've tapped my po
tential."
When she does, she won't
have to worry about a label.
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9:30 - Informal Celebration
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1376 Olive Street
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Ministers Bill Walker. Alan Birr
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cultural forum
presents
The premier U.S. exhibition of works hv
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Sunday, Oct. 17 to Saturday, Oct. 23
11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Room 167 EMU
Opening reception
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Slide/lecture ^ 6 p.m.
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Sat. Oct. 16
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Gil Coliseum - OSU
Tickets on sale Oct. 6 at Memorial Union
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