Who had the most significant breakout performance at the Husky Classic?
Oregon running back LaMichael James showed very well in the 60-meter dash, finishing third overall (first among collegians) in 6.77 seconds. Elijah Greer now holds the second-best indoor 800-meters time in school history, finishing in 1:47.33. Jordan Hasay made an impressive showing in winning the 3,000 meters, recording an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 9:12.25. Mac Fleet upstaged Galen Rupp’s school record in the indoor mile, taking second in an astounding 3:57.70.
It’s hard to choose between the Oregon athletes. That’s part of the reason why I’m picking Jordan Bishop.
Bishop, of course, is not a Duck, but a student-athlete at hated rival Oregon State. A Salem native who attended West Salem High School, Bishop is a sophomore wide receiver on the Beavers football team who caught 13 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown this season. Competing in the high jump at the Husky Classic, Bishop delivered an upset by winning the competition with a leap of 7 feet 1/2 inches.
All the more impressive considering that Oregon State does not have a men’s track team. The Beavers haven’t fielded one in 22 years.
Bishop competed in the Husky Classic with four of his Beaver football teammates as an athletic conditioning opportunity beyond traditional requirements. Wide receiver James Rodgers and defensive backs Keynan Parker and Rashaad Reynolds joined James in the 60m dash, though none of them advanced beyond the first heat. Wide receiver Obum Gwacham competed in the high jump with Bishop and finished second to him, clearing 6 foot, 10 3/4 inches. (Note to Nick Aliotti: Gwacham, a grayshirt freshman, is 6 feet 5 inches. Please provide safety help on the fade route).
The accomplishments of the Oregon State “track team” have to excite Beavers fans, who are beating the Ducks in an area long held sacred. Oregon’s coaches are certainly amused, but how seriously they take this performance is up for debate.
Oregon State, evidently, is demanding to be taken seriously in track and field. A Feb. 11 article in the Portland Tribune detailed a $13 million, four-phase plan to revive Beaver track and field. The phases include: Constructing a nine-lane track, constructing a permanent stadium around the track, financing an endowment to cover expenses for track and field and cross country, and building a “national-caliber” cross country course.
The Beavers currently field a women’s cross country team and a distance-focused women’s track team, created in 2004. To date, Oregon State has not been competitive. Over the past two Pacific-10 Conference championship meets for outdoor track and field, Oregon State has accumulated a total of zero points. At this year’s Pac-10 cross country championship, the Beavers finished eighth among 10 teams, with its first runner across the finish line in 38th place.
Most Oregon fans would look at those results and say, why bother? Oregon State fans’ counter would be, why bother reinstating baseball after 28 years?
It isn’t as though Oregon State is jumping blindly into track and field. The Beavers’ history in the sport is actually quite impressive. The all-time headliner would be Olympic high-jumper Dick Fosbury, whose patented “flop” redefined the event, but the number of past Olympians and NCAA champions extends well beyond him. As does the competitiveness of Oregon State track and field.
“The OSU men’s program was often among the nation’s top 10 during the Sam Bell and (Berny) Wagner years from the late 1950s to 1976, when Wagner left,” the Tribune article noted. “During one stretch from the late ’60s to early ’70s, Oregon State beat Oregon in seven of 12 dual meets.”
The prospect of a Civil War dual meet revival is tantalizing to any track and field fan, if a little way into the future. Only $500,000 has been raised toward Oregon State track and field to date, including a $60,000 gift from the late Bill Bowerman. (Yes, that Bill Bowerman). The Tribune article announced a gift of $1.5 million in stock options in a company called Next One Interactive, and the Beavers may well be on their way to privately financing a track team.
Scoff at the prospect all you like. As with Bishop’s win in Seattle, it only takes one great performance to make a statement and one individual to shake up conventional wisdom.
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