Dellinger says he will retire after 1998 season
™---—..:1
NICK MEDLEY/Emerald
Bill Dellinger has led the men's track and field team to one NCAA title and the men s cross country team
to Jour NCAA titles. He has compiled a track andfield dual meet record of 129-28 in 25 seasons'
Bill Dellinger said be is
currently undergoing
radiation treatment
for prostate cancer
By Alex Pond
Sports Reporter
As if trying to replace one
would not be tough enough, Ore
gon athletic director Bill Moos
now has the task of replacing two
legendary coaches.
First it was wrestling head
coach Ron Finley, who an
nounced last month he will retire
at the end of the current season af
ter 28 years at the school.
Now, Oregon men’s track and
field and crosscountry head coach
Bill Dellinger has told The Regis
ter-Guard he will retire at the end
of the 1998 track and field season,
the newspaper reported Saturday.
The 1998 season begins next
month and will be Dellinger’s 28th
leading the Ducks.
The 63-year-old Dellinger’s rea
son for retiring is due partly to the
fact he is undergoing treatment for
prostate cancer, according to The
Register-Guard.
“Cancer certainly opens your
eyes to your vulnerability," he
said in the Feb. 14 issue of The
Register-Guard. "[Cancer] makes
you think about the years you
have left and other things that you
might like to do.”
The Register-Guard reported
Dellinger learned of his cancerous
condition late last summer.
“I'd felt really good and hadn’t
had a physical in about five years,”
he said. "But I went in last summer
because I wanted to get a mole un
der my eye removed. I decided to
have a physical since I was going
in, and the blood test revealed the
possibility of prostate cancer.
“They didn’t do anything about
the mole. It just went away by it
self."
Dellinger told the Emerald last
year he would probably retire af
ter the 2000 season.
"At one time I was going to
coach through 2000, then it was
1999," he told The Register
Guard. "I still think I'm a good
coach, but I also know that with a
lot of modern trends that I some
times don't go along with, espe
cially in the areas of rules and reg
ulations and the bureaucracy of
the NCAA, it would be good for
the University to have a new,
younger, more vigorous person in
charge of the program.”
Quite simply, the changing of
head coaches in the men’s track
and field program at Oregon just
doesn’t happen often.
Dellinger, who took over in
1973, is just the third head coach
in the 94-year history of the pro
gram. Bill Hayward led the pro
gram through its first 44 years, fol
lowed by Bill Bowerman’s 24-year
reign.
Under Dellinger, the Ducks
have won one national champi
onship (1984) and three Pacific-10
Conference titles in men’s track
and field. His teams have com
piled a 129-28 dual meet record.
His crosscountry teams have won
four NCAA titles.
Kon hnley won t soon be forgotten
Iwas over at the Casanova
Center last week shooting
some photos of the wrestling
team.
1 was just trying to stay out of
the way, so as to not draw too
much attention to myself.
Ron Finley, Oregon’s head
coach of 28 seasons who had re
cently announced his retire
ment, was watching his
wrestlers work out, throwing
each other around in the 90-de
gree room.
The head coach seemed intent
on not saying too much, looking
more like an observer than a
coach.
Me crouched next to one of the
wrestlers, and I snapped a cou
ple of photos of him, the last two
on my roll.
I wanted to approach him to
congratulate him on a great ca
reer and tell him how much I re
spected what he had accom
plished, but I didn’t think it was
the time nor the place.
I grabbed my coat and made
my way out of the room as
quickly and as silently as possi
ble. By the time I made it
halfway down the hall, I heard
the door open and close.
It was Finley. I kept walking,
thinking he was on his way to
his office or someplace impor
tant like that.
Nope. It was just Finley being
Finley.
He called to me, “They sent
the top guy today,” or something
to that effect.
I had never met the guy be
fore, and here he is leaving his
team’s practice just to talk to me,
a lowly college reporter whom
he had never met.
But to him, I was important.
I’ve worked for this newspa
per for three years and have cov
ered just about every varsity and
dub sport there is to cover, and
never has any head coach, assis
tant coach or player done any
thing remotely like that.
It was a rare moment for me
and a revealing incident into the
life of Ron Finley.
There has
been much
written about
him in the few
weeks since his
announcement
of his upcom
ing retirement:
How he saved
the sport at
Oregon, how he
led Oregon to
national pres
tige and how he blazed a trail
that had never been thought of
blazing before.
It is all true, but what was
missed is the kind of man he is.
After he had called out to me,
I turned around and talked to
him for a couple of minutes. I
told him what I had wanted to
before: that I thought what he
had accomplished at Oregon
was impressive and that I re
spected it.
In classic Finley style, taking
no credit for himself, he said he
was thankful to have a “great
group of kids to work with.’’
We talked for a few more min
utes about nothing in particular.
I congratulated him again; then
he returned to his practice, and I
went on my way.
I'm sure Finley doesn’t re
member much of the incident,
but I won’t forget it.
For anyone who was at Fri
day’s Oregon-Oregon State
match, it was a fitting way for
Finley to end his career, a 22-15
win over the in-state rival.
But it wasn’t just the win that
Ryan
Frank
NICK MEDLEY/Emerald
Finley celebrates following’ the
Ducks’win oner Oregon State.
was fitting. About 30 minutes at
the start of the meet was spent as
a tribute to him. Always uncom
fortable with attention, Finely
handled it well.
He addressed the crowd,
thanking the 2,483 in attendance
for their support. As far back as
Finley’s mind could retrace, it
was largest crowd in his 28 sea
sons.
But in truth, it shouldn’t have
been Finley thanking the crowd,
rather it probably should have
been everyone in attendance
thanking Finley for his time and
devotion to the sport and the
University.
On my behalf, thanks for
everything you have given, Ron
Finley. You won’t soon be for
gotten.
Ryan Frank is the sfx>rts editor for
the Emerald
r
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