Bill McChesney Jr.

i recall several factors that would have helped him develop. He had brothers that were good runners. He had teamates in highschool that were quite good. He lived in Eugene ( track capital of the usa) at the time of Pre etc.Then you add his godgiven talent. Throw in great college teamates and coaching and of course the great competition of the NCAA at that time with UTEP and WSU fielding olmpic caliber athletes and many other schools also having quality athletes add some desire...add some supportive fans...motivation and courage to go to europe and compete etc...but that is just from an outsider's perspective as i only met him at a road race a year before he died so i hardly have inside scoop

I knew and raced against Bill in high school. The post above is very correct. South Eugene was a track/cross country power house in the 70's which helped create his foundation. Nice guy. The McChesney brothers and the Fulton brothers were good match-ups. FYI, his dad still races and helps at the U of O track meets - he was at the Hayward Classic for Masters.

Great family overall.

Just a story that typifies Bill Jr.'s tenacity. It was 1980 at a dual meet against WSU at Hayward Field. The team score was not in doubt (U of O was far deeper). So when the 5000 rolled around, it looked like it could have been anticlimatic. Wazzuh was at the nadir of its John Chaplin recruiting the best Kenyan atheltes he could find. So the 5000 features 4 runners (Billy, teammate Greg Erwin vs. Samson Kimombwa, and another WSU Kenyan). Kimombwa, was, or had been, the 10K world record holder at the time of the race. The 4 proceed to battle. Eventually Erwin drops off and little Billy looks like he's about to be toasted by these veteran Kenyans. The come upon one lap to go, and Billy get this look on his face and spits on the track right in front of the Cougar runners as if to lay down the gauntlet. He then throws in a final lap that was amazing and kicks away from these two. That moment will forever be etched in my mind.

there is a difference between best and fastest

1980 Olympic 5000 meter qualifier and 1983 World championship 10,000 competitor.

* wrote:

there is a difference between best and fastest

That's a good observation. But what is your reasoning, if I may?

pre841 wrote:

Wazzuh was at the nadir of its John Chaplin recruiting the best Kenyan atheltes he could find.

You probably mean "zenith," not "nadir." But I guess it depends upon one's perspective.

My guess is that while Bill ran faster times than Pre or Salazar, or even Dellinger, I don't think he won any NCAA or Olympic trials titles. Of course, he got hosed out of an Olympic apprearance by the 1980 boycott so we obviously will never know about that.

It was great watching him race, he was a very ballsy runner who got the most out of his talent and then some.

It was great watching him race, he was a very ballsy runner who got the most out of his talent and then some.>.

greatest race I ever saw.. Knoxville in '75 Jr.Nationals 10k.. McChesney, Eric Hulst, Chapa, etc. etc... I'll never forget it..McChesney was out of it 3 or 4 x.. as far as 60-70m back and roared back each time..... can't recall who won... he might have.. so many HS class records were set in that race... Chapa might have won...

AAU Junior Championship

Knoxville, TN

6/13/1975

10,000m

1. 29:11.0 Rudy Chapa, Hammond HS, IN junior (old HS record Gerry Lindgren 29:17.6)

2. 29:11.2 Eric Hulst, Laguna Beach HS, CA junior

3. 28:23.2 Mark Finucane, East Tennesse U

4. 29:27.2 Bill McChesney,South Eugene HS, OR soph (class & world age-16 record)

5. 29:30.6 McGuire, U of Michigan

6. 29:33.2 George Watts, Edison HS, VA senior

7. 29:46.0 Thom Hunt, Henry HS, CA senior

When did Bill McChesney die?

I think it was fall of '93. He was coming home from a XC meet on the coast and was killed in a car crash. Marcia and Bill Sr. are amazing people, who have suffered great tragedy losing another son, Tom. Tom was killed after being struck by a car while riding his bike back in the late 80's.

Bill SR was a H.S. state champion in the mile. their house is a temple to their family and to running. great family, they live and breath running.

As a high school sophmore!! How great is that!?

JSully wrote:

AAU Junior Championship

Knoxville, TN

6/13/1975

10,000m

1. 29:11.0 Rudy Chapa, Hammond HS, IN junior (old HS record Gerry Lindgren 29:17.6)

2. 29:11.2 Eric Hulst, Laguna Beach HS, CA junior

3. 28:23.2 Mark Finucane, East Tennesse U

4. 29:27.2 Bill McChesney,South Eugene HS, OR soph (class & world age-16 record)

5. 29:30.6 McGuire, U of Michigan

6. 29:33.2 George Watts, Edison HS, VA senior

7. 29:46.0 Thom Hunt, Henry HS, CA senior

Bill died at the end of October in '92...

hi skoolr

Reply to flashmile. Steven McChesney here to defend his brother as well as other Oregon greats. There could be a claim that Matt Centrowitz was the greatest Oregon runner of all time. 6 x USATF champ. 2 x Olympic team (1 - 1500, 1 - 5,000) 13:12 (I believe the American Record at the time) are not too shabby.

My point is that they ran at different time. Comparing them is not really fair because of circumstances. Bill ran faster than Pre in the NCAAs and placed 3rd to Kenyans. Pre dominated before the Kenyans really came to the US in any numbers. There were a few, but not of the same quality as a few years later. When Salazar, Centrowitz and Bill ran they faced the best in the World. In the Pac 8 (wasn't Pac 10 yet) WSU had the #1 and #2 10k runners in the world. Judging by Pre's international racing record he would have faired no better than his later counterparts against Henery Rono or the increbible depth of Kenyans running for WSU or UTEP. That was not true when Pre raced in college. Bill ran against world record holders in his own conference. He had to race better runners more often.

Matt, Bill and Pre at their best had very similar international success. Pre was 4th in the Olympics. Bill made the team that boycotted in Russia but went on to rank 4th in the world in the 5K (10th in the 10K) and beat the gold and silver medalists in Europe that summer. Matt ran well in Europe over many seasons as well.

Not being able to run in the Olympics had a very negative effect on Bill just as the 4th in the Olympics had an effect on Pre. Bill was making a very good comeback when Tom died.

So in my mind there is no single best runner at Oregon. Just a long list of legends including Moore, Manely, Grelle, Dellinger, Chapa, Salazar, Pre, Centrowitz, Billy and many more.

I bet if you could have asked Pre or Bill who was the greatest they would have both refused to answer that question and instead would have talked with great respect of the other. I know that is true of Billy.

P.S. Just for the record, Bill was not a Junior. My Dad was a junior and refused to make Bill a William III.

What do you think of current situation at Oregon.??

Also do you think Tyson can coach D-1..??