Isaac Rosenthal | Freelance Reporter
Members of the University’s adaptive sports club were among a handful of athletes to compete in wheelchair races at last weekend’s Oregon Relays.
Freshmen Matt Howard and Ming Canaday joined eight racers in the 100 and 1,500 meters. 
In addition to Howard and Canaday, the field included Craig Blanchette, a native of Springfield. Blanchette, a 21-time world record holder and an eight-time world champion, is one of the biggest names in wheelchair sports.
“When you’re racing with Craig, that’s
racing with a legend,” Howard said. 
In the 100 meters, Zach Abbott of Arizona won a close race with a time of 16.10 seconds. Abbott won after he passed Blanchette in the last 10 meters of the race. 
“I was getting worried that Craig had me, but then I realized I had more space. I was just trying to do everything in my power to catch him, and it worked out for me,” Abbott said.
Though he races for the Arizona, Abbott is no stranger to Hayward Field. A graduate of David Douglas High School in Portland, Abbott raced in the 2007 and 2009 Oregon Relays, winning the 100 meters both years. 
Abbott said he has raced at many sites all over the country, as well as several international cities, but Hayward Field stands alone as his favorite place to race.
“The track is good, and the crowd is great,” Abbott said.
For Oregon, Howard finished in fourth place with a time of 18.12 seconds. Before coming to Oregon, Howard worked for the last two years with Kevin Hansen, the coach of the
University’s adaptive sports club. 
“I would have liked to have done a little bit better, I kind of messed up my start but I got the pre-race jitters out of my system, so I’m feeling better for the next race,” Howard said.
In the 1,500 meter race, Howard led the field after the first lap before eventually falling back.  The race was tight through the first two and a half laps, but a traffic jam on the Bowerman Curve with the top four racers trying to lap a group of slower racers allowed Blanchette to coast to victory with a time of 3:57.39.
At that point, Howard and Blanchette were side by side, but Blanchette was able to avoid the mix-up. 
“He avoided it better than I did, and he was able to get a 20-yard gap on me, and he was gone at that point,” Howard said. 
“It could have been a much faster time, but it was tactical, and when it gets tactical it always slows down,” Blanchette. 
Blanchette relished the opportunity to compete at Hayward Field again. It was on the track at Hayward in 1993 that Blanchette set the world record for the wheelchair mile, shattering the existing record by eight seconds. 
“I used to train here every day, for years and years, and being able to come back and race here again. The crowd’s always good and the track is top-class,” Blanchette said.
Hansen also hopes the Oregon Relays helped the team’s image. One of the challenges for the adaptive sports club is recruiting.
The team lost many talented athletes to other schools this year, but Hansen said recruitment efforts are gaining success.
“We were having discussions with (Jose Villa) from North Marion about whether he’s going to declare as a Beaver or a Duck, but it doesn’t look like he’s even considering
Arizona, so that’s good,” Hansen said.
[email protected]