1895
Hitting the Ground Running
Oregon’s track and field legacy started way back in the late 19th century when the men’s track team won its first meet. They would go on to win six more that year.
1917
Rose Bowl Debut
The Oregon football team headed to Pasadena to square off against the University of Pennsylvania Quakers—the first of nine Rose Bowl appearances to date. UPenn was widely favored to win, but the Webfoots (UO athletes weren’t called Ducks till the 1920s) defied expectations (it would become a theme) to secure a 14–0 victory.
1939
The First Kings of the Hardwood
Coach Howard Hobson led the “Tall Firs” to the very first NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships, where they defeated Ohio State 46–33. The team earned its nickname for its forested hometown and for its stature: The team’s frontcourt trio of Urgel “Slim” Wintermute, Laddie Gale, and John Dick all stood 6’4” or taller.
1960
The Oregon Games
Oregon claimed its first Olympic medal when track and field phenom Otis Davis set a world record for running the individual 400-meter dash in a blistering 44.9 seconds. Two days later, he ran anchor in the 4x400-meter relay, winning a second gold medal. What makes the wins even more remarkable is the fact that Davis had zero formal track experience and didn’t run his first competitive 400-meter race until he joined the team at age 26.
1970
‘Pre’ History
The UO is synonymous with track and field, thanks in no small part to Steve “Pre” Prefontaine. Pre won seven NCAA titles: three for cross country in 1970, 1971 and 1973, and four for the three-mile/5,000-meter from 1970 to 1974. He was the first college athlete to win the same track and field event four years in a row. Pre’s signature running style, immediately breaking from the pack and driving the pace straight through the finish line, exemplifies the Ducks’ refuse-to-lose spirit.
1983
Women's Cross-Country Breakthrough
The women’s cross-country team showed they shared the men’s program’s competitive fire when they burst on the national scene in 1983. With strong finishes by junior Kathy Hayes (third place), senior Lisa Martin (17th) and sophomore Kim Roth (27th), the team edged out Stanford to secure their program’s first-ever National Championship. The program would win the title again four years later.
1994
Back to the Rose Bowl
Led by head coach Rich Brooks, the Ducks ended the 1994 season 7–1 (a conference record), earning the title and a trip to the Rose Bowl after a 37-year absence. It was the program’s first national title as part of the Pac-12 (then Pac-10) conference.
2006-2007
The Ducks Crack the Elite Eight
The Ducks men’s basketball team finished one of their best seasons to date with a 29–8 overall record (11–7 in Pac-10 play), then continued to dominate at the Pac-10 Conference Tournament. After defeating Arizona, California, and USC, the Ducks secured a No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament, making it as far as the Elite Eight.
2009
Another Track and Field Triumph
Oregon’s men’s team ran away with the 2009 NCAA Indoor National Championship, beating runner-up Florida 54–36. Among the standout performances was that of Andrew Wheating, who, despite being exhausted from earlier races, dug deep to secure a second-place finish in the 800-meter final, providing the team the points it needed to lock up the title.
2010
The ‘Five-Peat’
Between 2010 and 2014, the women of Oregon were an indoor track and field juggernaut, pocketing five consecutive NCAA National Championships. It started in 2010 with Brianne Theisen shattering a school record to win the pentathlon, followed by another school-record team performance in the 4x400-meter relay. The winning streak culminated in 2014, when they won the title by a half-point in a photo finish, proving that when the pressure is on, Ducks never quit.
2011
Duck Gymnasts Go to the Mat
Oregon’s acrobatics and tumbling team landed the national title at the inaugural National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA). The team’s relentless precision and strength would propel them to four consecutive national championships through 2014.
2014
Mariota's Heisman Season
In his junior year, Marcus Mariota threw for 3,783 yards and 38 touchdowns with just two interceptions, while also rushing for 669 yards and 14 scores. In that 12-1 season, he led the nation in touchdowns, passing efficiency and total offense. He received the third-highest vote total in Heisman history, making him the first Duck, the first Polynesian, and the first Hawaiian to claim the trophy.
2014 and 2016
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Win ‘Twin Titles’
In 2014, Oregon becomes one of few programs to win both the men’s and women’s NCAA Indoor Track and Field championships in the same year. The men’s team decisively bested Arkansas with a then-school-record 62 points, while the women trailed by 1.5 until a dramatic 4x400 relay win secured their fifth straight title.
In a repeat of the historic “twin titles," Oregon swept the 2016 indoor championships. The women’s team claimed their sixth national title with 53 points in Birmingham and the men’s team finalized a dominant three-year streak of consecutive indoor crowns.
2016
A White-Knuckle Win for Men’s Golf
After a tense neck-and-neck battle, it all comes down to the third play-off hole in the final match, when Sulmon Raza sinks a birdie putt to topple top-seeded Texas and win the title for Oregon. It’s the program’s first-ever NCAA National Championship win in front of an electrified hometown crowd.
2017
A Triple Crown Achievement
After recovering from an early fall, Deaja Stevens comes back strong, running a blistering second leg, allowing Raevyn Rogers to cross the finish line 0.2 seconds ahead of USC, securing the Ducks’ victory with a collegiate-record time of 3:23.13.
With their dramatic 4x400 relay win, the women’s track and field program achieved what many considered impossible: the “Triple Crown,” winning the Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track National Championships, all within the 2016-2017 academic year.
2018
Softball Tops the Pac-12 Conference
After three scoreless innings, the No. 2-ranked Ducks took a 2-point lead over the California Golden Bears and never looked back. The 2–0 shutout was the program’s fifth Pac-12 championship win in six seasons.
2020
Sabrina Rewrites the Record Books
Sabrina Ionescu’s 2019–2020 season is widely considered one of the greatest individual performances in college basketball history. In addition to leading the Ducks to a 31–2 season record, she became the first and only player in NCAA Division I history—male or female—to surpass 2,000 career points, 1,000 career rebounds, and 1,000 career assists.
2022
Ducks Women’s Golf Team Wins First Pac-12 Golf Championship
In a triumph of consistency and mental toughness, the No. 2-ranked Women’s Golf Team refused to fold, enduring a five-hour rain delay and waterlogged greens at the Eugene Country Club to capture the first Pac-12 Women’s Golf Championship in program history.
2024–2025
A Stunning Big Ten Debut
In their first year in the conference, the Ducks proved they have the grit and spirit to take on the Big Ten heavyweights, winning championships in football, women’s golf, baseball, softball, women’s cross country and indoor track and field, and men’s indoor and outdoor track and field.
