Bob De Carolis accepts the West Region Athletic Director of the Year Award June 24 in Anaheim, Calif. (contributed photo)

De Carolis has served as Athletic Director at Oregon State since August of 2002 after arriving on campus in April of 1998 as Associate Athletic Director for internal operations. He was promoted to Senior Associate Athletic Director in July of 1999.

“The Athletic Director of the Year award is essential because it highlights the efforts of athletics directors at all levels for their commitment and positive contributions to campuses and their surrounding communities,” NACDA Executive Director Mike Cleary said.

Under De Carolis’ leadership, the Beavers have improved competitively on the fields of play and academically. Some of the competitive highlights include the football team posting a winning season for the first time in nearly three decades, men’s basketball compiling a winning season for the first time in 15 years, the softball program made its first appearance ever in the College World Series and the baseball team competed in the College World Series for the first time in more than five decades – capturing the 2006 and 2007 national championships. With him in a leadership role, the football team has played in nine bowl games and overall, 16 of the 17 intercollegiate programs sponsored by OSU have participated in postseason.

Academically, 51 percent of the entire athletic roster sports a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher. Community service hours have tripled during his tenure and contributions for scholarships to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund (BASF) have increased from $5 million to more than $11 million.

De Carolis spearheaded the feasibility study for a plan that has expanded and renovated Reser Stadium to its current capacity of nearly 46,000. The new amenities and overall success of the football team has prompted “Beaver Nation” to purchase a school record 26,000 season tickets for the upcoming season. He has also led the OSU team to construct or improve existing facilities, such as the Sports Performance Center, Gill Coliseum, Goss Stadium at Coleman Field, the OSU Softball Complex, the Tommy Prothro Football Complex and the Merritt Truax Indoor Center.

His fundraising goals continue for the upcoming academic year and beyond. Current projects in development include a $16 million Student Academic Success Center that will be shared with the entire OSU campus, the remodeling of the Valley Football Center, construction of a $15 million practice facility for the basketball and volleyball teams, a $2.5 million crew facility and a $4 million track and field complex.

De Carolis is actively involved on national and conference level committees, and just completed a three-year stint on the NCAA Division I Management Council (MANCO). He recently chaired the Pac-10 Conference Budget and Finance Committee, and currently is on the Pac-10 Television and Bowl Committees, the NCAA Student-Athlete Benefits Cabinet and the Football Issues Committee.

De Carolis came to OSU from the University of Michigan where he began his career in 1979 as an administrative assistant and head softball coach. He was promoted numerous times, eventually to senior associate athletic director.

For more on the Director of the Year Award please follow this link: http://www.nacda.com/sports/nacda/spec-rel/062110aaa.html.

Kirk Walker is OSU's women's varsity softball coach

faculty on how best to help gay, lesbian, and bisexual athletes address their sexuality. He expands on those initiatives and recounts his own experiences here in an interview during the last week of October with the Women’s Sports Foundation, founded in 1974 by Billie Jean King. – Editor)

1. How did you decide to come out as a gay coach?
I had been out to my family and friends for several years.  I had come out to some of my coaching peers in the softball world and at OSU as well.   The final step of coming out publicly to my team and the media came about due to my pending adoption of a new born child with my Partner, Randy Baltimore.

2. How did you come out to your team? Your coaching colleagues?
I came out to my team in a team meeting early in the fall.  It was not a specific meeting for that purpose, but we had completed all of our team topics and I just felt that it was as good a time as any to tell them about the adoption and my partner.  With my coaching colleagues it was over a period of time and then once it became public then the rest just found out.

3. How does being openly gay affect your recruiting efforts with prospective athletes and their families?
As far as I can tell and have experienced, there has been no negative effects with any recruits that have not come to OSU because of my sexuality.  It generally comes up on in person visits or in home visits when discussing my daughter and family.  I do not hesitate any longer to correct someone when they ask about my wife.  I just say, my partner….  Some parents ask more questions and become very interested, some are not outwardly affected and the visit continues without a pause.   I did speak on a forum panel with Esera Tuaolo here at OSU and my full team attended and sat in the front row, including the freshman and that did send a quick pause in me when I first saw them all.   My sexuality or any topic of sexuality specifically is never really a discussion between me and my players, so it was odd to talk about those experiences in front of them.   We do discuss diversity and acceptance but rarely focus specifically on sexuality in our daily team discussions.  So I did wonder how the freshman viewed that discussion.

4. How do parents of athletes on your team react to their daughters having a gay coach?
Well I can only describe what I have felt and have experienced and it has been very uneventful.  I know that several of them are very proud of my journey and my willingness to take that huge step because it supports what we preach all the time to our players and parents that we are a family with many differences and strengths that we need to celebrate and not hide from each other.  For some of the other parents that were less vocal about their thoughts, I have always felt that I am judged by my ability to coach their daughter and help her become a more successful individual rather then my sexuality.

5. How does your experience of coaching as an openly gay man compare to coaching while closeted?
I would say that just like any person that has come out of the closet, I feel more comfortable and less anxious about saying something or being seen with someone that might give up my secret.  In terms on my coaching….well I don’t really think that I feel or experience things dramatically different.  I was passionate about coaching before, I passionate about coaching now, and have never felt more fortunate to do what I do for a living.

6. What does your team/school do to support you as an openly gay coach?
Well, most importantly I feel they support me as a coach.  And not really as a gay coach.  I don’t ask for any different support and don’t seek any different support because of my sexuality.  It is only one small component of what and who I am.  The support I need for my profession and for my team is independent and not relevant to my sexuality.  I am challenged more often by the lack of support for a women’s sport then I am for being a gay coach.

7. Have you had any negative experiences in athletics since coming out?
I am not aware of anything that has been a negative to my coming out.  Honestly, I really see the good in people as best I can and I have little expectations on others.   There probably have been some negative ramifications, but none that I am aware of or honestly really care about because they don’t affect me or the people that I care about.

8. Negative recruiting is a problem for women coaches, have you experienced negative recruiting as a gay coach?
Not that I am aware of.  I have never heard of a coach saying anything to a recruit or using my sexuality against me.  I am well respected for my work as well as disliked for my successes.  If it has been used against me I have yet to hear about it or seen the effects.   So I assume that it is not happening until someone proves me wrong.

9. What advice do you have for other LGBT coaches who are thinking about coming out to their communities, teams, colleagues in athletics?
Well it is really hard to give advice to any other individual about coming out in any profession or any part of the country.   I know that I felt comfortable with my abilities as a coach, my contribution to the university and the sport and to my athletes.  If you are thinking about doing it….it is probably long over due.  If you are still very fearful for your job and for your ability to succeed then you probably are not ready even if those fears are not a reality.   For most people, the fear is the greatest obstacle and in many cases the fears are grossly over exaggerated.  That being said, I did not come out for any other reason then I wanted my team to hear it from me and not from anyone else.  I owed it to them to be honesty.    In the many years previous to coming out, I would have never lied to someone about my sexuality or partner if asked, but I did not feel a need to share that information.  I still believe strongly that it is not anyone else’s business.   I also don’t feel the need to have to share my sexuality to everyone that I meet.  It does not define me, it is part of a full description of who I am and I am not ashamed of my sexuality. 

10. How can schools best support LGBT coaches?
I think there are my resources on most campuses across the country, but within the athletic departments there is a lot lacking.   I think diversity in general needs to be a daily dialogue from administration and within the athletic department and teams.   The greatest support anyone can get is security and freedom from any negative or hostile environment.

11. What recommendations do you have for athletic departments to make athletics respectful and inclusive for LGBT people?
Probably going off the previous question and answer, it is imperative that every athletic department have a no tolerance for bigotry, harassment, or intimidation when it comes to diversity of religion, sex, sexuality, race, etc…  There is absolutely no need or value for any athlete, coach or team staff person to be harassed.   It does not and will never motivate a player to be a better athlete because they are ridiculed or taunted for a diversity issue that they have no control over.  If an athlete is lazy or acting weak then call them out for that, don’t allow coaches to use derogatory comments or phrases that demean another diversity group that may or may not be within ear shot.   Ignorance or lack of quality communication skills is no excuse to defer to using unacceptable derogatory words or phrases related to race, sex, sexuality, religion, physical attributes or limitations.   Coaches or administrators that revert to tired old tactics that were used on them decades earlier are completely out of touch and not growing beyond their own experiences.  And therefore have little to offer the athletes of today and future generations of valued citizens of the USA and the world.

12. What initiatives has your school taken to make athletics a safe and respectful place for LGBT athletes and coaches?
Our athletic department requires every athlete to attend at least one discussion or presentation a year covering a topic of diversity.  I think those forums can lead to further dialogues.   The Student Athlete Advisory Committee additionally works hard to create positive opportunities for all of the student-athletes to grow.  There are certainly more things that should be done, but overall there is a general willingness by most in the department to education and not discriminate.  Unfortunately as in most places there are some coaches and administrators that are truly uneducated in terms of sexuality and have a limited understanding of sexuality because of inaccurate religious fears or misconceptions.

A joyous Justin Kahut is congratulated after kicking the winning field goal as time ran out and the Beavers beat Arizona. (photo: Bruce Ely, The Oregonian)

Beaver football fans wanting more to savor this week than just the Thanksgiving turkey got their wish on Saturday, when sophomore placekicker Justin Kahut nailed a 24-yard field goal with time running out to propel OSU to a stunning 19-17 win over Arizona.

The win not only moved the Beavers from a ranking of 21 in the Associated Press and USA Today polls to no. 17, it set up a Civil War clash this Saturday that will determine whether the Beavers win the Pac 10 Conference title and return to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1965. The Beavs have now appeared in the top 25 for three consecutive weeks, the longest stretch since a three-week run in 2001.

After starting the season 0-2, OSU’s unlikely run for the Roses has triggered Beaver Fever nationally. For the past two consecutive weekends, ESPN’s popular College GameDay broadcast has carried features on head coach Mike Riley and star offensive player brothers James and Jacquizz Rodgers.

The Los Angeles Times published a moving feature on last Saturday’s Sports section front page on alumnus Jack Yoshihara, who was part of the Beavs’ 1942 Rose Bowl team. And early Monday morning, OSU Sports Information Director Steve Fenk found himself awash in phone messages, despite working late the evening before.

“What is it about this Oregon State team,” began The Oregonian’s coverage of Saturday’s win. “’You can’t put your finger on it,’ coach Mike Riley said. ‘When the going gets hard, some people shrink, and some people rise up. This group is proving that they rise up. It’s something that is just there, and I love that about them. . . . I am humbled watching that with this team.’”

The 112th matchup between OSU and the University of Oregon (ranked no. 19) gets underway at Reser Stadium at 4:07 p.m. and will be carried live nationally on the Versus Sports Network. Check for details and a short video clip of Kahut’s winning field goal at Versus.

Diehard fans can hear more on the Beaver Sports Radio Network, beginning at noon with the “Beaver Tailgate Show” from the Hilton Garden Inn on 1240-AM KEJO in the mid-Willamette Valley.  “Inside Sports” with Ron Callan on Portland flagship KPAM 860-AM begins at 1 p.m. and the rest of the network stations join at 2 p.m.

As of press time, approximately 600 remaining student tickets for the game were going on sale – but only for students able to produce a ticket stub for each of the home games OSU has played this season. It’s a testament to the popularity of this year’s Beavers that the tickets were expected to go quickly. What few tickets were available externally through Web sites such as stubhub.com were selling for $120 to $200.

As for tickets for the Rose Bowl or other post-seasons games OSU might be invited to, check the Intercollegiate Athletics Web site at  OSU Beaver Football following the Civil War game for updates and details.

Presidential politics came home to OSU last week when men's basketball coach Craig Robinson became "brother-in-law-elect" to Barack Obama. Robinson is seen here addressing the Democratic National Convention in August. (photo: Associated Press)

NOTE: Listen to Craig Robinson on Thursday’s “All Things Considered” from National Public Radio by clicking here. — Editor

Just like a new coach might hope at the beginning of a new season, Craig Robinson knew his brother-in-law’s Presidential campaign had a “real possibility” of succeeding.

“What we had to do was keep our eye on the prize, our nose to the grindstone,” said Robinson, Oregon State’s men’s basketball coach and brother of Michelle Obama, wife of President-elect Barack Obama.

Nine days ago, the hope became a reality as U.S. voters gave the Illinois Democrat 52 percent of the popular vote and a two-to-one margin in the Electoral College. His election as not only the 44th U.S. president but the first African-American president in the nation’s 232-year history dominated international news coverage.

Friday afternoon, Robinson was looking forward to a quiet weekend with his wife and children to let the reality of it all sink in. “These people I’ve known all my life are now the president and first lady,” he exclaimed.

Standing on stage at almost midnight on Nov. 4 and towering over his brother-in-law, Robinson felt “a powerful rush” as 120,000 people in Chicago’s Grant Park cheered, screamed, and cried after Obama’s acceptance speech. The coach had been an important part of the campaign, representing Obama at more than 50 events over the past year.

“Yet it was very humbling, too, quite an honor to be standing there with Barack and representing America,” said Robinson.

He was in the room when his brother-in-law took phone calls from President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee. He took the stage with the rest of the family after Obama’s victory speech, and was awed by both the crowd’s energy and the moment.

“It’s so powerful, so emotional to realize all that has transpired to get us to this point today,” Robinson said, not only for the Obama campaign, not only for African Americans, but for all America.

For all the historic precedent of the past week, however, Robinson is now in “business as usual mode. My focus is to try to turn a basketball program around.”

Robinson in April inherited an OSU program that is coming off an 0-18 season in the Pac 10, carrying a 21-game losing streak and looking for its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1990.

A few hours after Chicago, he was back on the job, watching film, running a practice and looking for ways to make OSU better.

It would be naïve to say that the notoriety of being the coach whose brother-in-law is president of the most powerful government on Earth won’t affect the OSU program, Robinson said. “If we get invited into some (recruits’) homes because of it, that would be fine.”

He doesn’t feel apprehensive, he said. “It just that more people will be watching to see what we do.”

Spoken just like a new coach hoping for a “real possibility” of success at the beginning of a new season.

~ by Ed Curtin

Esera Tuaolo, former OSU and professional football star, returned to campus for a discussion of gay, lesbian, and bisexual athletes in sports. (Photo: Greater Talent Network, New York)

Athletes who happen to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual: It was a topic no one in the room lost interest in over the course of three-plus hours.

And in the end, while no one left with any easy answers, they did hear one clear message — respect the privacy of others and value your teammates.

Helping anchor a panel for OSU’s “National Coming Out Week” observances was Esera Tuaolo, the former Oregon State football star and Super Bowl defensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons. He made his first appearance on campus since going public with his orientation in 2002.

Tuaolo, who graduated in 1991 and was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, joined Kirk Walker, head OSU softball coach, and Julie Williams, teacher and coach at Corvallis High School, at the Memorial Union discussion, one of two mandatory attendance classes for OSU undergraduates.

“Don’t judge others,” he said in response to a question asking if gay and lesbian lifestyles ran counter to Christian principles. “Please, read your Bible and lead your own life as you should.”

“Everyone in the room learned they will have teammates dealing with a lot of sexuality issues, and they may never know it,” Walker — who came out in 2005, the same year his team made its first appearance in the College World Series and he and his partner adopted their daughter — said after the panel discussion. “Yet no one needs to find out because athletics and sexuality are not mutually exclusive.” Walker is the only known openly gay NCAA Division I coach in the country.

Students coming to OSU may feel physically safer in Corvallis than elsewhere because it is “a rare little pocket of acceptance,” said Williams, the recipient of several awards for advising gay and lesbian students at CHS.

But students’ emotional safety is another matter when others turn a blind eye and feel uncomfortable addressing the matter, she said.

The best strategy for dealing with questions of sexual orientation is to be “very individualized,” Walker said. This is especially true for those working with those students: coaching them, teaching them, helping them register for classes, serving them lunch.

“It’s not like there is a door, where you are either ‘in the closet’ or ‘coming out of the closet,’ ” the softball coach said. “Athletes have different degrees of comfort and should only take the steps they feel comfortable with.”

Among the suggestions for coming out at OSU:

• Find someone to talk to, even if they don’t have much to say in response.
• Seek out allies — a family member, someone from your hometown, a coach or a teacher.
• Visit or call OSU’s Pride Center: 737-6342. Oregon State was named one of the top 100 campuses in the U.S. for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues in 2006 by The Advocate, a national gay news magazine, and the Pride Center is a safe place for students to discuss their orientation in private.

The gender issue also fits into the sexual orientation issue, Williams said. For men, being gay is often seen as degrading, and for women, being lesbian could be a “step up” on the playing field.

“But it hurts the female who tries too hard, gets too strong and gets the message she must be a ‘dyke,’ ” she said. “That causes women to cut back on their training, which actually hurts their athletic abilities.”

During the week’s activities, professors distributed 300 ribbons as a pledge that their classrooms are safe for gay students. Given the demand, they could have given out two or three times that many ribbons, Williams said.

The strange thing is, she said, only about 20 percent of the population is probably absolutely gay or absolutely straight. Most people fall on a continuum. “You can’t tell me sexual orientation is a dot,” she said.

People need to understand it’s still risky to be openly gay in America, Tuaolo said. That’s why gay athletes should never be “outed” at a time other than their choosing.

“It doesn’t matter who you are,” he said. “Coming out is difficult.”

Since declaring his sexual orientation, Tuaolo has worked with the National Football League to combat homophobia in the league and is a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation.

In 2006, he sang the national anthem at the opening ceremony of the Gay Games, a quadrennial Olympics-style event, and testified at a legislative hearing in opposition to anti-gay-marriage bills.

Tuaolo’s autobiography, “Alone in the Trenches: My Life as a Gay Man in the NFL”, was released in spring 2006, and he has spoken out against the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of the U.S. military.

~ by Ed Curtin

Esera Tuaolo passionately describes his early childhood fears and professional football panic, and ponders what his life story would have been “if I could have been myself.” Click on this link   EseraTuaolo then on the orange podcast button below his photograph in the right column.

That’s the message delivered by five student athletes and a coach to members of the Faculty Senate earlier this month. Consider it almost a plea for understanding, they said, despite the stereotype held

James Dockery, OSU Football

by some that “just dumb jocks” live and play on the south side of the tracks that cut through campus.

Participating in programs that leave them far from home and campus, practicing and training all year long, and constantly carrying close to a full load of academic classes, the five said they have become experts in time management and problem-solving skills.

“You’ve got to realize there’s no off-season,” said James Dockery, a junior in business administration and cornerback and safety on the Beavers football team. In season practices, games, travel, weight training, team meetings, physical therapy must be fit in with at least 12 hours of credit.

Throughout the rest of the year, with conditioning, additional weights, and rehabilitation from injuries, the course load is even greater, said Dockery, who came to OSU from Palm Desert, Calif.

Braden Wells, a senior in speech communications, credits his “theories of conflict and conflict management” class as being “most relevant to my life.”

Braden Wells, OSU Baseball

Learning the skills to talk with professors, work out schedules for assignments and participate fully in classes is a balancing act he and the some 500 other student athletes must learn to not only stay eligible for their sports but also complete a successful college academic career, said Wells, who is wrapping up his baseball career as an undergraduate assistant. He is from Glendale, Ariz.

“Some people have the perception athletes are trying to get away from the responsibilities of class,” said Terry Liskevych, head volleyball coach and moderator of the Faculty Senate presentation.

Except for a very few, perhaps, all are balancing their time in the limelight of their sport, their academic studies, and the sometimes unyielding demands from their coaches. “It’s not a democracy out there,” Liskevych said. When a coach requires a practice session that overlaps several classes, it is the individual student who needs to work out the conflicts.

Strenuous schedules also rub emotions raw, he said. Student athletes have a deep drive for success in both arenas, the classroom and the playing venue, he said. “And when you’re playing in the Pac 10, these are the best athletes outside the pros.”

“That’s quite a burden on these 17- to 21-year-olds.”

High tech has helped 21st century student athletes, said Josh Tarver, a senior on the men’s basketball team. “The Internet has made things easier on the road since papers can be submitted electronically when we’re traveling,” the Jesuit High School of Portland graduate said.

Terry Liskevych, OSU Volleyball coach

Blackboard programs that allow students to take part in online class discussions and YouTube videos that allow out-of-classroom access to classroom content “definitely help,” said Dockery.

Liskevych asks faculty and staff on campus to consider three points when dealing with student athletes:

 Listen. “That’s my main thing. Take the time to hear what an athlete might be asking. How can they make up an assignment? How can they get to the point where they can successfully complete a course.

 Understand the time commitment, during the season and throughout the rest of the year.

 Know that at least 95 percent of the athletes are not trying to get out of anything.

“Progress has been made; our graduation success rate is getting higher and higher each year” for both men’s and women’s sports, the volleyball coach said.

By problem-solving and communicating their needs to others, he said, “these students are becoming the functioning adults and citizens our country needs in the future.”

~ by Ed Curtin

A video interview with James Dockery and Braden Wells is available by clicking here: Student Athletes on Balancing Time

“My grandparents started taking me to OSU football games when I was 6 months old, and to OSU basketball games when I was 9 months old,” Hollis said.  “I come from a sports family and I love it!”

Malisa Hollis produces the TV show “Beavers All Access” for Fox Sports Net.

Her passion for sports is evident, and as the coordinator of video production for OSU’s athletic department, it couldn’t be a better fit.   Since graduating from OSU in 2001, Hollis mixes together team highlight tapes, fundraising tapes and produces the TV show “Beavers All Access” for Fox Sports Net.

Co-worker Jeff Taylor says, “She’s an encyclopedia for OSU athletics.”

“She is very knowledgeable technically and her creative editing skills are phenomenal,” said intern Matt Riley.

“Malisa is really a special, special person for Athletics and probably taken for granted sometimes just because of her commitment to her job,” said Steve Fenk, assistant athletic director. “She goes beyond the call of duty every day. She is an extremely talented producer, works under incredible deadlines and often works through the night. Even when exhausted she still has a smile and is willing to help in any way.”

Hollis’ life-long love affair with Beaver sports began with her grandparents, Bert and Shirley Babb, who have deep roots at OSU. Bert’s father, Graydon Babb, played baseball for the Beavers, and Bert himself was going to pitch for OSU but a serious car accident derailed that plan.

Malisa Hollis with family friend, Ralph Miller.

The Babbs not only have season tickets to Beaver football games, but also men’s and women’s basketball, gymnastics, wrestling and baseball.

Hollis’ grandparents were good friends with Ralph and Jean Miller.  “I’d be with my grandparents in the summer time, and I remember being around coaches all the time.  A lot of people see Ralph Miller as cranky, but he was gentle and grandfatherly to me.  He never treated me like a tag-a-long.”  (Hollis and Miller share the same birthday–March 9.)

Hollis’ heart, though, is reserved for Gary Payton.  Even though she was only 10 years old, Hollis remembers sitting next to Payton on the bus on the way to a practice before the 1989 NCAA Tournament.  “He was my absolute idol; I had a huge crush on him,” she recalls. “It was really cool.”

But it’s the football games Hollis recalls the best.

The biggest game to her is the 1998 Civil War game.  “We hadn’t had a winning football season in 28 years,” said Hollis.  “Oregon was heavily favored, and we had taken a beating by their fans for years.  After OSU won in the second overtime on a Ken Simonton touchdown, people were tearing up turf and tearing down goal posts.  It was intense, emotional and as much energy as you’ve ever seen.  It didn’t matter if we lost any after that– 44-41 said it all.”

In 1999, Hollis recalls the Beaver’s ending a 20-year losing streak to California.  “Grown men were rushing on the field crying.  So many times we couldn’t win and now it was over,” said Hollis.  The 2006 win over USC also stands out in Hollis’ mind.  “We beat the number one team in the country.”

Asked if she plans on making all the home football games the next 29 years, Hollis replied, “I hope so. I’d love to be able to do that.”

~ by Jeanne Silsby

Video

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2006 baseball champs

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2007 baseball champs

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Ken Simonton breaks the streak

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Beavers break USC’s win streak in 2000

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Beavers win the Sun Bowl in 2006

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’98 Civil War win

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Gary Payton in Beaver orange

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Josh Inman was the 2005 US Rowing Male Athlete of the Year, and lettered on the varsity from 2000-2002.

Former Oregon State University rower Josh Inman has made the U.S. Olympic Team in the men’s pair. Inman, a graduate of Hillsboro High School, teamed with Matt Schnobrich of St. Paul, Minn., with a time of 6:38.104 over the 2,000-meter course at West Windsor, N.J. This is the first appearance in the Olympics for both Inman and Schnobrich.

Inman was the 2005 US Rowing Male Athlete of the Year, and he has lettered on the varsity crew at OSU from 2000-2002. He was a first team All-Pac-10 Conference selection as a senior and led the Beavers varsity to a fourth-place finish in the ’02 Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships in New Jersey, the highest finish ever for OSU.
Oregon State has had a former rowing student-athlete compete in three straight Olympic Games. Amy Martin of Sherman County, Ore., participated in 2000 and Joey Hansen of Bakersfield, Calif., won a gold medal at the 2004 Games in the eight-man boat.

Inman is the third current or former OSU athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games, Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, China.

Current OSU swimmer Saori Haruguchi is representing Japan and current wrestler Heinrich Barnes will be competing for South Africa. Former soccer standout Robbie Findley is a member of the USA Team and is a candidate to make the Olympics.