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Show The Salt Lake Tribune SPORTS 25Years After Death, Prefontaine Remains a Hero to Young Runners pacefrustrated opponents, who BY LANDON HALL “The unique thing about Steve, and the sad irony, is that he’ll always look 24 and cool and wide-eyed, and that’s something kids will always identify with {TIE ASSOCIATED PRESS EUGENE,Ore. — Itis the place wherehis hero died, but Gabe Jennings finds comfort andinspiration there. ‘Last summer, Jennings, an enormously talented runnerat Geoff Hollister Stanford, wentto the rock where Steve Prefontaine crashed his convertible on May 30, 1975. Although he had a race to runthe next day, rarely could beat Pre regardless of the venue. ) “Prefontaine wasthe type of runner who broughtout the best in everybody, whether you loved him ornot,” said Greg Fredericks, a former Penn State runner who finished secondto Pre in the 5,000 meters of both the 1971 and ’72 H@*!@*%!! Have a problemwith today’s content? Call Reader Advocate Shinika Sykes 257-8999 SPRING SALE ircanccnomonces: $4370 = 80% EFFICIENCY FURNACEINSTALLED $41QS = CENTRAL AIRINSTALLED - MODEL 38TKBO30 - 2'/; TON $@ DOWN = 6 MONTHS, NO PAYMENT, NO INTEREST, OAC CALL US NOW FOR A FREE ESTIMATE! 801-949-7535 NCAA championships, thelatter a memorably closerace held before a packed house at Hayward. A friendof Steve Prefontaine,left At21, Prefontaine was the Jennings stayed there past sunset, United States’ best hope for a gold medal in the 1,500 at the Olympics when the winding, shadowy road felteveneerier. in Munich.Heboltedto the lead as usual, but withered down the | “It’s a powerful place,” ningssaid. “I feel the spirit. You homestretch against a much more experienced internationalfield to finish a disappointing fourth. feel like he’sstill alive.” The20-year-old redshirt fresh- man wentoutandfinished a surprising seventh in the 1,500 meters NEARING HIS PRIME: Pre- at the U.S. track and field championships at HaywardField, the fontaine waspreparing for a run at the 1976 Montreal Games when hislife and spectacularcareer were cut short. Hoursafter he won sceneof Prefontaine’s greatesttriuthphs. Last week, Jennings won the 1,500 Pac-10 title on the same track. dust like last summer,the thoughts of Prefontaine and his lonely memorial — adorned with a plaque and picture — kept Jen- his last race — he pulled away fromrival FrankShorter to win a 5,000 at Hayward — he went toa party at Hollister’s house. Afterward, he dropped off Shorter at the house where he wasstaying when ningsgoing. “Thatradical, free spirit just really'tnoved me,”hesaid. “That's what'makes running fun — the spontaneousjoy. Runningis a cre- ative expression thatis your own tojhold and shape, and I think thats beautiful.” Ttis a testamentto Prefontaifie’s charisma, and the powerof Hollywood,that Prefontainestill inspires such words a quartercentury after his death at age 24. His.influenceis especially strong among high school and college runners, who know him only thr@ugh the two biographical films madeabout him in the 1990s. ‘There arealso the anecdotes an¢itall tales retold by their coathes — now middle-aged men who knew “Pre”orvividly recall his exploits. “Hewas largerthanlife,” said John Gillespie, the track coach at South Eugene High School who followed Prefontaine'’s college careé®.“He didn’tjust do things. He saidvhe was going to do them, then he wentout and did them.That’s MuhammadAli-ish. A few people thoughtPre was cocky and brash, art those,people changed their mindslater, because you’re not cocky whenyou backit up.” (THE REBEL:Atthe time of his deafhi, Prefontaine held American records at every distance between 2,000,and 10,000 meters. His recordsin the rarely run 2-mile and§-mile eventsstill stand. But it'gjthe imageof the long-haired, mugtachioed rebel — forever young andbrimming with energy —jthat makeshim sopopular with yaung people. Bee Sunday, May28, 2000 «,Al of us who were of that era, people lookat us today and we ‘i 3 a Don Ryan/The Associated Press Awood carving,right, marks the spot near Eugene, Ore., where Steve Prefontaine waskilled in a car accident May 30, 1975, hours after he defeated Olympic champion Frank Shorterin a 5,000 meterrace. lookold,” said Geoff Hollister, a friend of Prefontaine’s who becameoneofthe early employeesof Nike and nowfollows runningfor the sports-equipmentgiant. “The uniquething aboutSteve, and the sadirony,is that he'll always look 24 and cool and wide-eyed, and that’s somethingkids will always identify with. * here's that kind of innocence with young kids; they haven't comein touch with their own mortality. They were invincible. That waspart ofPre’sattitude. All that makes him very cool.” Notcoincidentally, the popular- ity of track andfield in the United States began toslip after Prefontainedied.It hit bottom with the US.boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow,andexceptduring Lockeroutdoor championships in Raleigh, N.C., next month. OnMay5, DathanRitzenhein, a juniorat Rockford (Mich.) High, matched Prefontaine’s national high school recordin the 2-mile with a time of 8:41.5 in an equiva- lent3,200 meters. “This year, we've just seen an. explosionof performances,” Hol- lister said. he headed downSkyline Boulevard, a narrow roadinthe hills above Eugene. Prefontaine apparently failed to negotiate a curveandhit the rock, flipping his MGB convertible upside downand pinning him underneath. He was not wearing a seat belt, and tests showed he had a blood-alcohol content of.16, well overthelegallimit of .10. Neighborsalong Skylinesaid they heard a secondcar racing away, butpolice later absolved the driver, whosaidhe.was rushing hometotell his father, a doctor, aboutthe accident. The controversy over Prefon- OLYMPIC HOPES: Prefontaine developed his famous toughness onthehilly streets of Coos taine’s death persists, as do arguments about what he might have accomplished. He wasjust approachinghis prime, andPrecer- Bay, a small shipping and logging town on the Oregoncoast. In high tainly would have challenged school,the 5-foot-9 runner was medalist in Munich — in the 5,000 Finland’s Lasse Viren —, the gold known for his temper, even throw- in Montreal. Viren wentonto win ing a punch at an opponent during oneparticularly physical cross- two golds in 1976. country race. Olympicyears, the sport has neverreally caught on again with American fans, Even at Hayward, In 1969, Prefontaine signed on with Oregon and Ducks Coach Bill practically a runner’s cathedral, a crowdof only 3,905 turned out for the Pac-10 championships.Pre, - whocalled the Eugenefans “his people,” would draw 13,000 for an ordinary dual meet. Today, Prefontaine would be pleased at the resurgence in toplevel high school and college distance running. Alan Webb,a 17- Sutherland in the 1998 movie “Without Limits”). That's when the victories started to pile up, and races became events at Hayward. Lookingat the roaring crowd Bowerman(played by Donald after his 3-mile victory at the 1971 AAUchampionships,Pre said, “Those people are fantastic. * They’re my people, man. How can youlose with 12,000 people behind year-old junior at South Lakes High Schoolin Reston,Va., has a you?” good chanceto becomethefirst prep runner since Marty Liquori in 1967 to run a sub-4-minute mile whenhe competes in the Foot races at Hayward, andthe three Prefontaine also would have continuedhiscalls for reformin the sport. He wasan activecritic of track’s governing bodies, which insisted that he andotherathletes retain their “amateur”status while struggling to earna living. Today runners makemillions in endorsementdeals. “He would have become a very big focal point in the revolutionof. track andfield,” said Tom Jordan, who wrotethe 1977 biography “Pre” and runsthe world-class Prefontaine Classic meet, now in its 26th year. Prefontaine won35 of his 38 losses were in the mile, which wasn’t his specialty. His tendency to runoutfront and keep up the “Who knows? 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