“Champions are those athletes who continue to do their best on those days when nothing is going right for them at all.”
Feature Pic Above and to the right
WHO: Steve Prefontaine (Oregon) and Nick Rose (England/Western Kentucky U.)
WHEN: November 18, 1973
WHERE: Hangman Valley Golf Course, Spokane, WA
WHAT: NCAA XC Champs
Pre had just overcome an enormous lead by Rose. With about 2 miles to go, Rose had more than a 100m lead on Pre. I don’t know exactly how much, because I was dashing around from spot to spot to intercept the runners, dragging 2 cameras and multiple lenses, and my eyes weren’t always on the runners. But Pre was BEATEN. He doesn’t let anyone get a lead like that on him unless he’s whipped. But somehow, Pre came back and won the race by about 25-30m as I recall. – Jeff Johnson
Team Places: Oregon 89, UTEP 157, Washington St. 166
Editor’s Note: Due to the graciousness of Jeff Johnson, John Goegel and others, we are carrying over a series begun during the track season on our sister site, newhampshiretrackandfield.com . For those of you that don’t know, Jeff Johnson was employee #1 of Nike. He actually is the one responsible for naming the company. Fortunately for us, he was also a world class photographer of our great sports in the 1960s and 1970s during which he captured thousands of sports photographs. We are honored and thankful for their choice to use our sites as their medium for sharing their passion. We hope our presentations can do them justice!
Photos by Jeff Johnson
Quotes by Jeff Johnson from his work in progress: “In Other Words: Things I Think I Said When I Was Trying To Think Of Something To Say.”
If you are interested in a poster version of a photo from this series, they are available for a small charge. Contact us via nhcrosscountry@gmail.com
