You’ll find them at Hayward Field. You’ll find them in the same classes. You’ll find them soft-spoken and polite, but you won’t find one without the other.
If you ask a question, they’ll look at each other and ready a tacit response. It’s the silent language of Oregon’s identical track twins, Carlos and Esteban Trujillo.
The redshirt sophomores from Middleton, Idaho, are neck-deep in their first season with the Oregon track and field team and striving for recognition among other Duck newcomers.
Both have helped first-year coach Vin Lananna lay the groundwork for a promising future at Oregon.
“Anytime you’re building something, you and the people you’re working with need to have imagination and they have definitely bought into that,” Lananna said. “They have a lot of imagination that is going to be valuable to this program as it moves forward.”
Although their collegiate careers are still in an early stage, the Trujillos have taken much from Lananna’s mentoring.
“It’s been a really great, great experience,” Carlos said. “He’s an awesome coach. He knows how to work with you and keep tabs on your training.”
Carlos turned heads in the 2005 cross country season as Oregon’s second finisher in both the Pier Park Preview and the Willamette Invitational. He finished in the top 13 overall in both races.
He and Esteban, who goes by Steve, opened the outdoor track and field season by running the 1,500 meters at the Oregon Preview. Carlos took 10th place with a time of 3 minutes, 58.33 seconds and Steve followed in 18th at 4:06.53.Carlos and Steve ran the 5,000 two weeks later at the Stanford Invitational and finished fourth and 28th, respectively, in section three.
Carlos added another top-five finish in the 5,000 at the Pepsi Team Invitational. His time of 14:29.88 was good for third.
The twins were born in Los Angeles, but moved with their family to Middleton where they attended a high school of the same name. It was there that they started taking distance running seriously.
Steve said they started running recreationally at age 10.
“We got serious about it in high school, during the last two years of high school,” Carlos said.
Like many of their teammates, the Trujillos came to the University because of its reputation as Track Town, U.S.A. Both aspired to run for the school’s cross country and track teams but struggled to get a tryout for a team then headed by Martin Smith.
To train for the 2005 season, they ran with the University Running Club under Tom Heinonen, the former Oregon women’s coach.
“They’re very hard-working kids, very self-motivated,” Heinonen said.
Once Lananna came to Oregon, the Trujillos’ work ethic translated into roster spots.
Looking back at this season, Lananna is impressed with the transition the Trujillos have made from competing at a club level to competing for a Division I school.
“When we arrived here at Oregon, we were light on numbers,” Lananna said, referring to the cross-country roster. “We had only six men and four women.
“I suggested bringing in Carlos and Esteban. They’ve been just wonderful. They’ve been steady, consistent, hard workers. They’ve improved dramatically.”
As with most twins, the Trujillos have grown accustomed to being mistaken for one another.
“We’ve definitely gotten use to it,” Carlos said. “Ever since we’ve been in sports.”
Teammates of the twins, such as Heinonen’s daughter Liisa, can identify Steve by a small freckle to the left of his nose.
Tom Heinonen tries to recognize them based on running technique, but has had limited success.
“I’m ashamed to say that after all these years I still can’t tell them apart,” he said.
Carlos and Steve’s similarities go beyond their appearance. Both enjoy the same movies, TV shows and novels. They also have the same career goals. They hope to run their own restaurant after college or find work in psychology, their major.
Both plan to continue running after college. They have their sights set on the 2008 Olympic Trials in Eugene.
This Friday, the twins will compete at the Oregon Twilight. Both are slated for the 5,000, and Carlos will also run the 1,500.
The Twilight is the first of two meets the Ducks will host on consecutive weekends. They stay at home for next weekend’s Pacific-10 Conference Championships. Steve hopes to see action at the finals.
“I want to get more experience and be a better runner time-wise,” he said. “It’d be cool to run at the Pac-10 Championships.”
Lananna is unsure whether Steve will suit up next weekend but plans on having Carlos run.
“Carlos has essentially earned himself a spot from the running club to a spot at the Pac-10s,” Lananna said.
Lananna feels that the twins embody what Oregon track and field is all about.
“The Trujillos represent everything that is fun and exciting about the sport and especially how track and field is at Oregon,” Lananna said.

[email protected]