Base of bedrock
The Ducks are a contender,
courtesy of Tom Heinonen
Like a pearl buried in a coral
reef, Oregon's women's cross
country program has winked its
success at the world for seven
years amid the jagged edges and
octopus-like tentacles of its rivals
on the collegiate cross country
scene.
The two most recent rivals have
been Stanford and Virginia, both
virtual unknowns in cross country
until the advent of the 1980s.
Like a pair of octopuses, the two
schools have each seized hold of
their respective coasts, snaring
virtually all of the top running
talent in their respective area.
And even though both schools
signed to scholarships the majori
ty of the best runners on their
respective coasts this year,
Oregon caoch Tom Heinonen
isn't really worried.
He is happy with who he
recruited, and feels secure in the
knowledge that the Virginias and
Stanfords of the world may dull,
but never cover, Oregon's glint.
So how has this slight, bespec
tacled man who seems more
suited to be a philosphy professor
produced a record like he has at
Oregon, using what appear on the
surface to be very insufficient
materials.
In part, it has been done
through the assiduous cultivation
of Oregon prep talent, whether it
be from sprawling suburban
Portland high schools or tiny
Eastern Oregon high schools.
In part, by singling out prep run
ners with the talent to grow, to get
better, to improve.
And partly by fitting the women
he recruits into a structured pro
gram that is almost unstructured
because of the amount of in
dependence allowed.
“We're a different kind of a
school," says Heinonen. "We're a
little bit more laissez faire than
other programs in our approach.
"I don't dominate, and I don't
intimidate, because I know we can
win without doing that," he
emphasizes.
The record book outlining
Heinonen's eight-year career at
Oregon indicates the truth to his
statement. The Ducks dominated
the Pacific Northwest, winning
seven consecutive regional titles
and finishing in the top seven at
the national meet every year —
and in the top five all of the last
five years.
And the foundation of this
success?
Mainly, Oregonians.
Until this last spring, Heinonen
had signed every prep AAA state
cross country champion produc
ed in Oregon. This year, he did't
offer the state winner a scholar
ship because he didn’t feel her
talent was worth matching the
full-ride offer Oregon State made.
Five of last year's top seven run
ners were Oregonians, and a sixth
was recruited from an Oregon
junior college.
"There are only two areas where
Oregon high school marks stand
up well year in and year out when
compared nationally," Heinonen
says. "The javelin and distance
running."
"Why distance running?”
Heinonen repeats. Partly because
of tradition, the notion of Oregon
— and more specifically Eugene —
as being a running mecca na
Also, because of the lack of ex
tremes in temperature, like heat
or humidity or snow.
But it's the difference between
the age-group and high school
programs in Oregon and other
parts of the country that allows
Heinonen to take these rough
stones and turn them into
diamonds, he says.
Unlike California and the East
Coast — which feed Stanford and
Virginia — Oregon has no age
group track program that
dominates the state's aspiring
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Women's cross country coach Tom Heinonen has built one of the top
women's collegiate distance programs in the nation.
distance runners.
That leaves Oregon runners do
ing low mileage amounts in high
school and rarely competing in
high-profile races.
"That's good, because they
haven't been drawn out to their
limits” by the time they reach col
lege, says Heinonen.
"I look for people with
backgrounds like all the Orego
nians we've recruited/' he says.
"I look for people who will get
better because they haven't done
incredible amounts of work in
high school,” he says.
"They will improve simply by
being older and wiser, but they
will also improve becasue they
can do more work than they've
done before."
But his runner's improvement
doesn't come at the point of a
bayonet.
"I don't try to mold them,"
Heinonen says. "I don't see them
every day, I don't tell them how
many miles to run in the morning.
"I want my people to be in
dividuals," he says.
Heinonen points to distance
sensations Leann Warren and Eryn
Forbes as examples of the flower
ing of this principle. The pair were
"inseparable" their first year in
Eugene as freshmen at the Univer
sity, Heinonen recalls.
"They were like two kids in a
candy shop, and they enjoyed it
together," he remembers. "But
Continued on Page 9
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