2012 CROSS COUNTRY - GoDucks.com

Lance Deal
Lance Deal begins his 11th year with the Oregon track and field program. After eight years as a successful
assistant coach, he was named director of track & field venues and program support in 2010.
The 1996 Olympic silver medalist and 21-time national champion is responsible for coordinating the
activities and improvements at of one of the most storied venues in all of sport - Historic Hayward Field.
Deal ensures that the iconic stadium is preped and in top condition for every meet it hosts. He also oversees
all equipment necessary for staging track events on the grand stage, ranging from hurdles and starting blocks
to pits and poles and everything in between.
Another aspect of Deal’s role is to serve as the program’s point man for all capital improvement and construction
projects. He played an integral role in the intensive Hayward Field renovation that took place for the 2008 Olympic
Trials. That feat included realigning the grass infield and designing and building new cages for the hammer and
discus throwers, among numerous other features. He subsequently oversaw both permanent and temporary additions
to the classic venue for the 2010 NCAA Championships, as well as the USA Track & Field Championships in 2009
and 2011. He will again take the department’s lead in that area for the 2012 Olympic Trials.
Deal transitioned into the role at Hayward Field after guiding Duck athletes to a pair of NCAA championships,
21 All-America honors, 12 Pac-10 titles and 25 school records.
As an athlete, Deal ignited the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Stadium crowd with a silver medal in the hammer
(266-2), and he also competed in the 1988, 1992 and 2000 Olympic Games and in the IAAF World
Championships in 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1999. In world rankings, he stood first in the world in 1996 and was
among the top-10 five other seasons (1992-93-94-95-98). The U.S. record holder at 270-9, Deal owns 16 of
the top 20 throws all-time by Americans. His resume boasts nine U.S. outdoor hammer titles, 12 indoor titles
in the weight throw (35-lb.) – including a record nine straight – and nine year-end No. 1 hammer rankings.
Deal also excelled in the discus and shot put. As an undergraduate at Montana State, he earned All-America
honors in the discus during the 1984 NCAA Championships at Hayward Field with a personal best of 202-2
and also threw a best in the shot put of 60-2.5.
Born in Riverton, Wyo., Deal is a graduate of Montana State University (1984) and Natrona County High
School (Casper, Wyo., 1979). He and his wife Nancy have one daughter, Sarah.
Staff Profiles
Director of Track & Field Venues
and Program Support
11th Year
Jill Steele
Jill Steele joined the staff in the fall of 2011 as director of operations and is in her first year with the program.
The Seattle, Wash., native is responsible for many of the day-to-day operations of the track and cross country
teams, including administrative support, team travel and logistics, as well as special projects relating to the
2012 Olympic Trials and Pac-12 Track & Field Championships.
Prior to arriving in TrackTown USA Steele spent two years working with the University of Oklahoma’s track
and field teams.
She began her time with the Sooners as a graduate assistant, studying intercollegiate athletic administration,
before moving into a full-time position as director of track and field operations. While earning her Master’s
degree from Oklahoma, Steele served as a graduate assistant with academics, where she advised and
monitored student-athlete academic progress. Additionally, she mentored student-athletes with learning
disabilities and international English second-language students-athletes.
She was the meet director for the 2011 Big 12 Track & Field Championships.
Steele was a member of the cross country and track and field teams at Utah State. She won the Joe E.
Whitesides Scholar-Athlete Award four years in a row, from 2003 to 2006. She was named to the Western
Athletic Conference all-academic team in both 2005 and 2006 and graduated from Utah State in 2006 with
a degree in health, physical education and recreation.
After graduation, Steele spent one season as head cross country coach at Overlake High School in Redmond,
Wash. Steele has also volunteered for the American Cancer Society as an event chairperson for its “Relay
For Life” fund-raiser event.
Director of Operations
2nd Year
15