I bet Vin Lananna has been just tickled this week.
After all, the track and field guru picked up a pair of lethal free agents in redshirt freshmen LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner, just in time to make yet another at a national
championship trophy.
James and Barner have already accomplished what no student-athletes at the University have been able to do in 74 years — win a conference title in both football and track in the same academic year. They join the only other Oregon athlete ever to do so, Bob Parke, a former Duck football captain and javelin slinger, who achieved the feat in 1933-34.
The duo of James and Barner proved to be nearly unstoppable on the football field last fall, and now they’ve been given a chance to add a few more rings to what will undoubtedly be a sizable collection by the time graduation rolls around (in three years). And judging by their performances in the 4×100-meter relay at the Pac-10 Championships last weekend, which they finished in a season-best 40.36 seconds, the pair are only getting started.
The fourth-place finish that day gave the Oregon men an additional five team points, while James, a former Texas state champion in the 100-meter dash, also chipped in four points of his own in the 100 meters. Barner, on the other hand, competed for only the second time on a track (in his life, mind you), with the first coming at the Oregon Twilight on May 8. I don’t need to overemphasize how athletically impressive that is.
But this made me wonder how the Chad Barlows and Matt Butchers of the world must feel around this time. Jealous about James’ and Barner’s newfound success in what may be considered an offseason hobby to some, or thankful to finally have a pair of fellow sprinters potentially helping to put Oregon sprinting on the map.
On the one hand, Oregon sprinters haven’t necessarily been obsolete, but they’re certainly not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Oregon Track or Hayward Field. Barlow, a two-time All-American now in his senior season, has twice taken home an NCAA Champion in the distance medley relay, and is also a member of the school-record-holding distance relay group. Butcher, only a sophomore, was an indoor All-American in the 4×400-meter relay and scored points at the Pac-10s last season as the Ducks’ top freshman sprinter.
As full-time members of the track and field team who practice around the calendar, wouldn’t they be entitled to a bit of agitation with the arrival of two sight-unseen football players casually sliding into scoring roles? It’s tough to say, but could you really blame them if they did?
At the end of the day would anyone really be that upset about acquiring two capable athletes right before the postseason begins? It’s like seeing that new kid on the high school basketball team for the first time. At first you wonder if your minutes will decrease, then you see how talented he actually is and accept the fact that he’ll be a contributor.
That’s how I’d like to think Barlow and Butcher are reacting to the influx of football players into the track program. They were initially curious about the impact on an individual level, before realizing what it could mean in the big picture — an even better shot at a national championship.
At the end of the day, it will all trace back to work ethic. If James and Barner simply show up expecting to score points come June 9, they won’t be thought of highly by their new teammates. Honestly though, who really expects that? Nobody tallies more than 1,000 all-purpose yards on the gridiron without a pinpoint work ethic. And I see that carrying over to the sprints. With the NCAA Outdoor Championships only three weeks away, it will be interesting to see how much better James and Barner can get with that amount of practice time.
The handoffs will only get smoother and the starting blocks will only become more familiar.
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