Steve Prefontaine

His father, Raymond George Prefontaine (November 11, 1919 – December 21, 2004), was a Welder who served in the U.S. Army in World War II.

Steve's mother, Elfriede Anna Marie Sennholz (March 4, 1925 – July 16, 2013), worked as a seamstress.

The two returned to Coos Bay after Ray met Elfriede in Germany while serving with the U.S. occupation forces.

The middle child and only son, he had two sisters, Neta and Linda, and they all grew up in a house built by their father.

Prefontaine was an exuberant person, even during his formative years.

He was always moving around, partaking in different activities and events.

In junior high, Prefontaine was on his school's football and basketball teams but was rarely allowed to play because of his short stature.

In the eighth grade, he noticed several high school cross country team members jog to practice past the football field, an activity he then viewed as mundane.

Later that year, he realized he could compete well in long-distance races during a three-week conditioning period in his physical education class.

By the second week of the daily mile runs, Prefontaine could finish second in the group.

With this newfound success and athletic ability, he fell in love with cross country running.

Steve Roland "Pre" 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.

Prefontaine was born on January 25, 1951, in Coos Bay, Oregon.

Though starting as the seventh man, he progressed to be the second by the end of the year and placed 53rd in the state championship.

In his sophomore year, he failed to qualify for the state meet in his event, the two-mile.

However, his coach recalls that it was his sophomore year when his potential in the sport began to surface.

With the advice of Walt McClure, Prefontaine's high school coach, he took it upon himself to train hard over the summer.

He went through his junior cross country season undefeated and won the state title.

In his senior year, many of his highest goals were set.

He obtained a national record at the Corvallis Invitational with a time of 8:41.5, only one and a half seconds slower than his goal, and 6.9 seconds better than the previous record.

He won two more state titles that year after another undefeated season in both the one and two mile distances.

Some forty colleges across the nation recruited Prefontaine, and he received numerous phone calls, letters, and drop-in visits from coaches.

He referred many of his calls to McClure, who wanted Prefontaine to attend the University of Oregon.

McClure turned away those universities that began trying to recruit him late.

McClure maintained that he did not sway Prefontaine's collegiate choice, except to ask Steve where all the distance runners went to college.

Prefontaine wanted to stay in-state for college and attend the University of Oregon.

He had not heard much from Bill Bowerman, the head coach for the University of Oregon.

Prefontaine only received letters from Oregon once a month, whereas other universities such as Villanova were persistent in recruiting him.

As a result, Prefontaine did not know how much Bill Bowerman wanted him to attend Oregon.

Bowerman stated that he did not recruit Prefontaine differently from anyone else.

It was a matter of principle for him to advise recruits where to attend college, wherever it may be, and to not bombard the recruits with correspondence.

He had followed Prefontaine's career since he was a sophomore and agreed with McClure in his assessment of Steve being a highly talented athlete.

It wasn't until Prefontaine read Bowerman's letter that he decided to attend the University of Oregon.

When he got into Marshfield High School in the fall of 1965, Prefontaine joined the cross country team, coached by Walt McClure, Jr. McClure had run under coach Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon in Eugene and his father, Walt McClure, Sr. had run under Bill Hayward, also at Oregon.

Prefontaine's freshman and sophomore years were decent, and he managed a personal best of 5:01 in the mile in his first year.

Prefontaine's career, alongside those of Jim Ryun, Frank Shorter, and Bill Rodgers, generated considerable media coverage, which helped inspire the 1970s "running boom".

He was killed in an automobile crash near his residence in Eugene, Oregon at the age of 24.

One of the premier track meets in the world, the Prefontaine Classic, is held annually in Eugene in his honor.

He competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and was preparing for the 1976 Olympics with the Oregon Track Club at the time of his death in 1975.

Prefontaine's celebrity and charisma later resulted in two 1990s feature films about his short life.