'We Grew Wings' film inspires with story of track women

Most Oregonians know the legacy of Bill Bowerman, long-time University of Oregon track and field coach and co-founder of Nike. There is a deep history of success by the so-called "Men of Oregon" including Steve Prefontaine, Kenny Moore, and others.

Such is not the case with the history of the women's track and field program at Oregon - but some former Duck athletes set out to change that with a film documentary entitled "We Grew Wings" which showed at Sisters Movie House on Sunday, December 9.

In the process of researching the history of the women's program and its own success, producer Ellen Schmidt-Devlin, who ran for the Ducks from 1976-80, began to realize that the stories of the women were quite compelling and told a deeper message of the early days, including the Title IX era begun in 1972, when women began to find athletic equality. As her research moved toward the present, more inspiring stories emerged,  

The film compares the 1985 national championship team with the 2011 Duck team that placed second at NCAAs, focusing on teamwork, individual challenges, and desire to excel.

Ironically for both teams, the battle for the team title came down to the last event.

Interestingly, many of the 1985 team came to the University of Oregon from within the state, including Leann Warren (Crescent Valley High School), Claudette Groenendahl (South Salem), and Kathy Hayes (Newberg). Schmidt-Devlin herself graduated from West Albany High School.

Schmidt-Devlin believes that sports inspire people to believe in themselves, and she wants the documentary to do that for young women in particular.

The film debuted during the Olympic trials in Eugene last summer, with many of the team members from both eras in attendance. Since that time it has been shown at other Oregon venues and came to Sisters after Sisters Movie House proprietor Lisa Clausen teamed up with Tate Metcalf of Sisters Athletic Club to make that happen.

About 60 people attended the screening, including a number of girls from Sisters High School's track-and-field team.

"We like to bring people to Sisters who can share with the community and inspire us all, which this film certainly did," said Metcalf.

It's probably hard for the students in Sisters to imagine a time when girls didn't have full access to athletics, but inequities remained for many years even after Title IX was enacted. In 1984, for example, the Olympics still did not offer all the track-and-field events that men had, including the 5,000 and 10,000-meter races. Until 1993 high school girls in Oregon were not allowed to run as far as boys in cross-country - girls ran 3,000 meters compared to boys 5,000 meters.

The women's track program at Oregon began as a club with no budget. They could use the track facility, but only after the men were finished. Some people do give Bowerman credit for planting the seeds for women running after he established community jogging programs in Eugene in the late '60s, but it was Tom Heinonen, hired to coach the Duck women in 1977, who helped shape the track program into a national-level power that continues today under director of track and field operations Vin Lananna.

Schmidt, however, did not want the film to be a tale of bitterness, but rather a story of the will to succeed and about women of both eras making the most of the opportunities they had. The film chronicles the glories - and the disappointments - the women experienced.

Adding to Oregon's history of success this fall, the Duck women captured the third NCAA cross-country championship in school history last

month.

A book related to the film, put together by another Oregon track member, Kim Spir, is expected to be finished in late 2014. It will chronicle the "Women of Oregon" from a humble start in 1928 through 2012.

Schmidt-Devlin, who worked for Nike for 27 years before retiring and taking on the film project, still runs today and hopes that future generations of girls will take up sport as a way to help them reach their dreams.

"We hope the film inspires girls and young women," she said.

The film is available on DVD from the "We Grew Wings" website, www.wegrewwings.com.