Oregon track & field: In less than five years, Vin Lananna has made a difference for Oregon and for track and field.

By Ken Goe, The Oregonian

March 16, 2010, 7:41AM

University of Oregon / Vin Lananna

I wrote a track notebook for this morning's Oregonian that led with an item about Oregon coach Vin Lananna, at home in Eugene and dealing with high blood pressure while the Ducks were putting on a triumphant performance at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.

Lananna still is working with his doctor to find the right combination of medications to get his blood pressure and related symptoms under control.

Oregon fans -- and, really, track fans everywhere -- owe a debt of gratitude to Lananna.

His imprint on the Oregon program, which has become a national men's and women's powerhouse in his less than five years on the job, is unmistakable.

But he also has revitalized the sport with way he spearheaded the Eugene '08 U.S. Olympic Trials for track & field, and the way he has returned Hayward Field to its place as the mecca for the sport in this country.

It's Lananna's vision that track and field can retake hold in Eugene, and then ripple out across the rest of the country.

He has the Eugene part of the equation in place.

Here is the first part of the notebook I wrote for this morning's paper. It was broken into two parts online. Here is the second part.