In a historic throwback moment, the Oregon Track Club posted a picture of a recruiting letter that Coach Bill Bowerman mailed to Steve Prefontaine when the runner attended Marshfield High School in Coos Bay, Ore. 

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The letter was written on Oct. 30, 1967 and details Bowerman’s interest in the Oregon prep star. 

“Bill Dellinger and I have watched the newspaper with interest this fall in your cross-country races. We congratulate you on your steady improvement,” Bowerman wrote. 

“On the afternoon of October 27, I was laying out the cross-country course for the meet with Oregon State, while Bill Dellinger was out to watch the District Championship. Bill reports, as do Roscoe Divine and Dave Wilborn, a couple of Oregon sub-four-minute milers, that you look like a real champion,” he added.

As we know, Prefontaine went on to attend the University of Oregon in the fall of 1969, where he collected seven NCAA titles and set nine collegiate track records. He never lost a race more than a mile in length while competing for the Ducks.