Hall of Fame
Tom Heinonen
- Induction:
- 2013
He followed in the shadows of Hayward and Bowerman. He coached alongside the legendary Dellinger. Yet Tom Heinonen took a backseat to no one as he pioneered the school’s women’s track and cross country programs from infancy into one of the most successful in the history of the sport. His 27-year reign overseeing the school’s women’s track program trailed only that of Bill Hayward’s 44-year tenure among the Ducks’ track & field royalty as the eight-time Pac-10 Conference coach of the year and three-time NCAA honoree guided teams to a trio of NCAA team titles and nine conference championships. That didn’t include an additional year as cross country head coach when he mentored the women to a fourth-place national finish in 1975. Under his tutelage, Oregon produced 139 track and cross country All-Americans as well as 15 NCAA and AIAW individual national champions, with his athletes garnering 17 Olympic appearances. He guided the 1983 cross country team to the university’s first NCAA women’s team title before tutoring the track & field program to a national championship in 1985. Oregon duplicated the former feat with a second NCAA cross country crown in 1987 to go along with three more second-place national finishes among its 18 top-10 efforts. Yet overshadowing much of his success was his advocacy for the sport that led to countless hours of volunteering for the betterment of Track Town, USA.
Ella Osmussen: "Bring the energy."
Wednesday, October 01
Tracy Joyner: "No one starts at the top."
Wednesday, October 01
Duck Insider 10-1-25
Wednesday, October 01
Dan Lanning: "Work week for us."
Wednesday, October 01
