More on the 1980 Eastern Track and Field Team

Dominant is winning a conference championship with more than double the point total of the runner-up.
 
That's what the 1980 Eastern Washington University men's track and field team accomplished, and that squad will be among the 19th class of inductees into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame on Sept. 28, 2019, in conjunction with EWU's football game versus North Dakota at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
 
Coached by Jerry Martin, that 1980 team was very dominant, finishing fourth in the NCAA Division II Championships, sixth in the NAIA Championships and more than doubled runner-up Central Washington's point total in the NAIA District 1 Championships (289-144). That was also the year Mt. St. Helens blew, the week before the back-to-back weeks of the national championships.
 
The induction and 40th anniversary of the success by the 1980 team will also serve as a tribute event in honor of Martin, who was inducted into Eastern's Hall of Fame in 2001. All of Martin's former student-athletes from his 18 years as head coach are invited to attend and celebrate his legacy. Martin's 1982 NCAA Division II National Championship cross country team was inducted in 2007.
 
The 1980 team will be the 18th team inducted into the Hall of Fame, but this will be the first Eastern track and field team to be enshrined. Individual members of the class and a recipient of the Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award will be announced in the coming weeks.
 
The induction breakfast and ceremony is expected to start at approximately 8 a.m. on Sept. 28 at the Pence Union Building's Nysether Community Room on the EWU campus in Cheney, and the public is invited to attend at a cost of $25 per person. Guests must register via a link that will be available in July at http://goeags.com/HOF. Inductees will also be honored at halftime of EWU's football game against North Dakota later that day (kickoff is TBA), and recognized the night before at EWU's home volleyball game versus Portland State.
 
Established in 1996, the Hall of Fame currently consists of 88 individuals and 17 teams. In addition, there have also been 20 individuals and one organization honored as recipients of the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award. All of the inductees and induction classes may be viewed at: http://goeags.com/HOF.
 
 
 

1980 Track & Field (Coach Jerry Martin)

 
Eastern placed fourth at the NCAA Division II Championships and sixth in the NAIA Championships, and the squad included national champions Brad Boland and Vic White. Eastern won the NAIA District 1 title for the sixth-straight year in 1980, having also won the previous five seasons from 1975-79. The Eagles scored 289 points to double the point total of runner-up Central Washington with 144.

White won six NAIA championships in the high jump and triple jump from 1978-80 for EWU, and in 1980 he was won the triple jump (52-8) and was second in the high jump (7-0). He went on to finish second in the high jump (7-0 3/4) and seventh in the triple jump (50-0) at the NCAA Division II Championships. His 52-8 mark in the triple jump in 1980 still stands as the school record.
 
In his lone season at Eastern after transferring from Everett Community College, Boland had six top six finishes at NAIA and NCAA Division II track and field championship meets and set four school records. He won the Division II title in the discus with a 177-0 throw, was second in the shot put (58-0) and third in the javelin (217-9). At the NAIA Championships, he was second in the javelin (227-7 1/2), third in the discus (193-4 1/2) and sixth in the shot put (56-10), and also competed in the hammer throw. His 193-4 1/2 discus mark at the NAIA meet still stands as a school record, and his 58-0 is currently third.
 
Teammate Chuck Cacek also scored a point at the NCAA Division II Championships, finishing sixth in the discus with a 169-5 throw. Steve Quigley finished seventh in the discus (167-4), and EWU was also represented at the meet by Kelshall Rivas (100, 200), Greg Rooney (110 Hurdles), Jeff Frederick (triple jump), Roy Martin (discus) and the 4x100 relay team (Randy Harris, Mike Balderson, Chuck Epps, Tom Hewett). Eastern scored 31 points in that competition, and a week earlier scored 33 at the NAIA Championships as White scored 18 points and Boland had the other 15.
 
One week earlier at the NAIA Championships, a large contingent of Eagles represented EWU. Besides Boland and White, they included Mark Pierce (javelin), Ron Thomas (triple jump), Cacek (discus, shot put), Frederick (triple jump), Martin (discus), Quigley (discus, shot put), Rivas (100, 200), Rooney (110 Hurdles), and the 4x100 relay team of Harris, Balderson, Epps and Hewett.
 
Eastern's performance at the NAIA District I Championships was dominating, including 1-2-3-4 finishes in both the discus and shot put and district record times in winning both the 4x100 relay and the 4x400 relay. Eastern also finished 1-2-3 in the javelin, 1-2-4-5 in the 200, 1-3-4-5 in the 800 and 1-3-4-6 in the 100. Boland won titles in the discus and shot put with district records, and he was first in the javelin and third in the hammer. White swept titles in the high jump, triple jump and long jump, and set a district record in the high jump. Rivas swept the 100 and 200, Rooney won the 110 hurdles, Dave Hall triumphed in the 800 and Ed Brandstoettner set a district record with a winning time of 3:55.3 in the 1,500. A total of 27 Eastern competitors scored in the meet.
 
One week after the district meet and as the Eagles prepared for national competitions on back-to-back weeks, Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980. The resulting ash that fell throughout the Eastern Washington region made training virtually impossible. Eventually, Eastern made its way to Abilene, Texas, for the NAIA Championships on May 22-24, and one week later, to Pomona, Calif., for the NCAA Division II Championships on May 29-31.
 
The team was coached by Jerry Martin, who spent 18 seasons as Eastern's head track and field coach during stints from 1972-86 and 1993-95. The national finishes for the 1980 team were the best in his tenure at Eastern, with Eastern placing in the top 10 a total of seven times at the NAIA or NCAA Championships under Martin. Including Boland and White, Martin's track athletes won 12 NAIA titles, including four by distance runner Bob Maplestone. In all, Martin coached 12 NAIA All-Americans and 11 NCAA All-Americans. He was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001, and Maplestone was an inaugural inductee in 1996.  Martin also spent 13 years from 1976-85 and 1992-94 as the school's cross country coach, and from 1975-78 he was Eastern's athletic director. His crowning glory came in 1982 when Eastern won the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship with a team that featured three All-Americans.