V 13 N. 56 Who Was, Is David Mack?

In our previous post we talked about the dual meets of the past that were so much of the college track and field season.   In that post an Oregon 800 runner David Mack was mentioned.  He became America's top 800 man in 1983.  His rise and fall and rise again have been documented in a book by one of his teammates.  He was a kid straight outta Compton,  abandoned by his mother, doesn't know what has become of his siblings, told by his 'caregiver' if he wanted clothes he would have to steal them.  He became a national class runner in high school and went to Oregon.  After leaving college and ending his running career he became a high ranking detective with the LAPD, but eventually fell and participated in a bank robbery.  He served 14 years in prison and came out educated in another field.  He has made his way back, and his good friend, Joe Volk, from his freshman year at Oregon has written a book about him.   A review by Tom Trower in The Mail Tribune appeared online on February 13, 2021.  Trower's article is a long, well written piece and rather than pasting it in its entirety, I'm giving you the link just below.

Book About David Mack  read and enjoy.  It's a story of redemption.

In reading Bill Schnier's account of the Indiana  Oregon dual meet I was curious what kind of outdoor season Mack had that Olympic year, 1980.  He was just a freshman.   I scoured the newspapers to find as many of his results as I could.  What I found are listed below, followed by some of the clippings.  It's not complete as Oregon had 7 dual meets in 1980.

Date                       Opponent             Event       Place                   Time

March 30, 1980     Tennessee dual      1500           1st                   3:48.8

                                                              800            1st                   1:50.6

April 5                   Washington St.       800             1st                   1:48.2

May 5                     Oregon St. dual     800             1st                   1:48.7

May 12                   Indiana Dual          800             1st                   1:49.1

                                                          Mile relay      anchor              46.5

May 18                   Twilight Meet        Mile           3rd                  4:04.29

                            ( 1. Matt Centrowitz  3:57.7  2nd Chris Horton  4:03.44)

May 25                    PAC 10                  800            1st                  1:48.28

Jun 5,6,7                 NCAA                    800 semis  1st                  1:46.84

                                NCAA                   800 finals   6th                 1:47.2

Jun 24                     Olympic Trials       800  semis  1st                 1:47.02

                                                               800 finals   6th                1:46.67

Not a bad Freshman year