The Oregon Track Club (OTC) is an American running organization based in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

History

Emerald Empire Athletic Association

Formed by

Bill Bowerman William Jay Bowerman (February 19, 1911 – December 24, 1999) was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic Games, Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 2 ...

, the Emerald Empire Athletic Association (EEAA) was the predecessor to the Oregon Track Club. In 1948, Bill Bowerman became the assistant track coach at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, in Eugene, Oregon. In order to spur interest in running with the local community, Bowerman formed an all comers meet for grade-schoolers in 1949. The next year the meet was expanded to include high school and college athletes. The low turnout of the all comers meet caused Bowerman to want to increase his efforts in promoting track and field in Eugene. In 1958, with the help of Ray Hendrickson and Bob Newland, Bowerman established the Emerald Empire Athletic Association. Ralph Christensen became the first president of the EEAA, and along with the other leaders established the goals for the EEAA:"Oregon Track Club History"
retrieved 23 November 2010 #To promote youth program for youngsters in track and field. #To provide training assistance and facilities for track and field athletes of all ages. #To sponsor one big track meet each summer as a fundraising event to support the other goals.

Change to Oregon Track Club

In 1965 the Emerald Empire Athletic Association changed its name to the Oregon Track Club. This was in part due to the leadership's desire to concentrate mainly on track and field. Beginning in the late 1960s, the OTC started to become a dominant force in American Track and Field. Due to the relationship between the University of Oregon and the Oregon Track Club (both in Eugene, same coaches), many athletes from the University of Oregon's strong cross country and track and field programs decided to remain in Eugene to compete with the Oregon Track Club. The most notable of these athletes are

Steve Prefontaine Steve Roland Prefontaine (January 25, 1951 – May 30, 1975) was an American long-distance runner who from 1973 to 1975 set American records at every distance from 2,000 to 10,000 meters. He competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and he w ...

, who placed fourth in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

in the men's

5000 meters The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

race, and Mac Wilkins, who received the gold medal in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

. During the '70s, the OTC sent dozens of athletes to the Olympics and won several medals.

Branches

The Oregon Track Club is made up of three branches: the general club, the elite club, and the masters club.

General Club

The general part of the OTC is the largest subgroup in the OTC. It is made up of athletes under the age of 30 who pursue running for enjoyment. Many of these runners had no or little NCAA running experience, but are still running every day and competing in organized meets because of the passion they exhibit for the sport. These members of the OTC have helped increase popularity in Track and Field in the United States. They also helped design

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the Northwestern United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campu ...

and hosted major meets such as the 2008 US Olympic Trials.

Elite

OTC Elite is the professional branch of the OTC and is based in Eugene, Oregon. The current format of the club was created in 2006, and originally coached by Frank Gagliano. In 2008

Mark Rowland Mark Robert Rowland (born 7 March 1963 in Watersfield, West Sussex, England) is a retired male distance-runner from the United Kingdom, who specialised in the 3000m steeplechase. Athletics career Rowland came third in the men's men's 3000 m ...

became the Head Coach of OTC. For a time there were three groups of athletes who wore the OTC Elite uniform, one coached by

Alberto Salazar Alberto Salazar (born August 7, 1958) is an American former track coach and long-distance runner. Born in Cuba, Salazar immigrated to the United States as a child with his family, living in Connecticut and then in Wayland, Massachusetts, where ...

and one coached by Jerry Schumacher. Alberto Salazar went on to coach the Nike Oregon Project until he was suspended and then banned for life, while Jerry Schumacher went on to coach Nike's Bowerman Track Club. The team has had great success, culminating at the 2011 IAAF World Championships with High Jumper Jesse Williams winning Gold,

Ashton Eaton Ashton James Eaton (born January 21, 1988) is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete (after Roman Šebrle) to break the 9,000-poi ...

winning Silver in the Decathlon, and Sally Kipyego winning Silver in the 10,000 meters.

Masters

The masters and submasters division of the OTC is a subgroup of the OTC designed for older members to stay competitive. The masters and submasters divisions have age restrictions to provide fair competition between athletes: 40 years old and older for the masters division and 30 to 39 years old for the submasters division. The OTC's masters division hosts the Hayward Classic, which is one of the more popular masters track meets in the country.

Youth

In 2019, the club added a youth cross-country program. This club is designed to fuel kids' excitement and love for running by giving them the opportunity to participate in this historic club and be a part of Eugene's worldwide fame as TrackTown USA. A particularly unique aspect of the program is that the youth athletes receive encouragement and coaching from OTC elite runners, Olympians, and other local celebrities.

Runners

Notable current athletes

The following athletes compete as part of the OTC Elite in Eugene: *

Nijel Amos Nijel Carlos Amilfitano Amos (born 15 March 1994) is a Botswana Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. He won the silver medal at the Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 London Olympics, which was ...

* Ben Blankenship * Tom Farrell * Hanna Green * Sally Kipyego *

Hassan Mead Hassan Mead (Somali language, Somali: ''Xassan Miicaad'', ; born June 28, 1989) is a Somali-American long-distance runner. He was a Cross country running, cross country and Track and field, track athlete for the University of Minnesota. An eigh ...

Francine Niyonsaba Francine Niyonsaba (born May 5, 1993) is a Burundian runner who specialized in the 800 metres and shifted to longer distances in 2019. She was the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist in the women's 800 metres. Her silver medal was the first Oly ...

* Andrew Osagie * Luke Puskedra * Sheila Reid

Notable former athletes

The following athletes formerly competed in the past for the Oregon Track Club: * Margaret Bailes * Wade Bell * Russell Wolf Brown * Dyrol Burleson * Sam Chelanga *

Bill Dellinger William Solon Dellinger (born March 23, 1934) is a retired American middle-distance runner, and track and field and cross country coach. He competed in the 5,000 m at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won a bronze medal in 1964, setting his p ...

* Ian Dobson *

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World tit ...

Shalane Flanagan Shalane Grace Flanagan (born July 8, 1981) is an American long-distance runner, coach, Olympic medalist and New York City Marathon champion. She was the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977. She holds the NACAC area ...

* Cyrus Hostetler * Evan Jager * Lauren Johnson * Will Leer *

Tyler Mulder Tyler Mulder (born February 15, 1987) is an American track and field athlete. He was the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Champion in the 800 meter run. High school career Mulder competed for Unity Christian High School in Orange City, ...

* Ciaran O'Lionaird *

* Lachlan Renshaw * Galen Rupp *

Shem-Tov Sabag Shem-Tov "Shemi" Sabag; later known by the surname Sagiv (; born April 13, 1959) is an Israeli former Olympic marathoner, former triathlon coach, and currently a chiropractor. He competed for Israel at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He ...

Chris Solinsky Chris Solinsky (born December 5, 1984) is a retired American distance runner and an American college cross country coach. Solinsky is the current assistant coach of the Oregon Ducks cross country team at the University of Oregon. Among his mor ...

Nick Symmonds Nicholas Boone Symmonds (born December 30, 1983) is an American YouTube personality and retired Middle distance track event, middle-distance runner from Boise, Idaho, who specialized in the 800 meters and 1500 meters. At Willamette University, he ...

* Alan Webb * Andrew Wheating * Mac Wilkins * Jesse Williams

Coaches

* Frank Gagliano * Bob Newland *

- current OTC Elite Head Coach *

(Nike Oregon Project) * Jerry Schumacher (Bowerman Track Club)

Nike relationship

The OTC has had a long-standing close relationship with Nike, Inc. over the years. This relationship is due mostly to the fact that one of Nike's founders was OTC founder Bill Bowerman. It is also because Nike's main founder

Phil Knight Philip Hampson Knight (born February 24, 1938) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist who is the co-founder and chairman ''emeritus'' of Nike, Inc., a global sports equipment and apparel company. He was previously its chai ...

was a middle-distance runner for the University of OregonKrentzman, Jackie
"The Force Behind the Nike Empire"
''Stanford Magazine'', retrieved 7 December 2010 and had a close relationship with many of the athletes in the OTC. Throughout the years, Nike has contributed strongly to the OTC by supplying equipment and sponsoring competitions for athletes to compete against other track clubs across the nation. This relationship has greatly increased with the re-establishment of the OTC Elite.

References

External links

*
OTC
on Runnerspace {{Authority control Track and field clubs in the United States Running clubs in the United States Sports in Eugene, Oregon Track and field in Oregon 1958 establishments in Oregon Sports clubs and teams established in 1958