Sports
Oregon football, an Olympic champion, Marist’s trophy haul lead top sports moments of 2024
The Oregon football team’s 2025 calendar year will begin just as it did in 2024 — playing a bowl game on New Year’s Day.
The site and ramifications of the game this season are significantly different.
The 365 days between the romp against Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., to end last season and the upcoming Rose Bowl matchup against Ohio State have been nothing short of a thrill ride for Oregon.
The Ducks won all 14 of their games played in 2024 – starting in the Fiesta Bowl and continuing with a 13-0 record this season – took over the No. 1 ranking in October, won the Big Ten Championship game in December, had a second straight Heisman Trophy finalist, and are the top seed in the College Football Playoff, which begins Wednesday for the Ducks with their quarterfinal game against the Buckeyes in Pasadena, Calif.
But Oregon football didn’t provide the only highlight of the 2024 calendar year.
Here’s a look at some of the most memorable moments in local sports during the past 12 months.
Oregon football perfect in first season in the Big Ten
The transition to the Big Ten was seamless for the Ducks, who went 9-0 in conference play during the regular season then defeated Penn State in the Big Ten Championship game on Dec. 7.
Along the way, Oregon recorded one of the best wins by any team in the nation when it defeated then-No. 2 Ohio State 32-31 in Autzen Stadium on Oct. 12, a win that cemented the Ducks as the best team in the nation.
We’ll see on Jan. 1 if Oregon can beat the Buckeyes again, but the Ducks will end 2024 as the No. 1 team in college football with wins this season against three teams that are in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals — Ohio State, Penn State and Boise State.
Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel is a Heisman Trophy finalist
Dillon Gabriel has been sensational in his one season as a Duck.
The sixth-year senior, who was the Big Ten offensive player of the year, has completed 297 of 406 passes for 3,558 yards, 28 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has also rushed for seven TDs.
Earlier this month he finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting.
He ranks second nationally in completion percentage (73.2%), fifth in completions, seventh in passer rating (166.57), tied for seventh in total touchdowns (35), tied for eighth in passing touchdowns and is 10th in passing yards per game (273.7).
Gabriel made history this season when he broke the NCAA all-time record for total touchdowns with 187 in his career, and his start in the Big Ten Championship game was the 62nd of his career, breaking the previous record of 61 set by former Oregon star Bo Nix last season.
With 153 career passing touchdowns, he is closing in on Case Keenum’s all-time record of 155. He also ranks second all-time in career passing yards (18,423) and total yards (19,675).
Cole Hocker – Olympic champion
The former Duck ran the race of his life on track and field’s biggest stage in August when he pulled off the exhilarating upset to win Olympic gold in the men’s 1,500 meters in Paris.
Hocker kicked past reigning Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and reigning world champion Josh Kerr down the homestretch to finish in a Summer Games-record 3 minutes, 27.65 seconds.
Hocker’s win was the second 1,500 gold for an Oregon Duck in the last three Summer Games. Matthew Centrowitz was the Olympic champion in Rio in 2016 when he became the first American to win gold in the event since 1908.
Hocker wasn’t the only former Oregon standout to shine on the track in Paris, as Jessica Hull won silver in the women’s 1,500 to become the first Duck and Australian to medal in that event.
Bryce Boettcher skyrockets to stardom
The two-sport Oregon athlete from South Eugene High has been a fun story for most of his career as a member of the Ducks’ baseball and football teams. In 2024 he upped his game.
During his senior season of baseball last spring, the center fielder hit .276 with 12 home runs, 15 stolen bases and 35 RBIs. At the end of the season, he was named a Rawlings Golf Glove winner and in July he was selected in the 13th round of the MLB draft by the Houston Astros.
He delayed joining the Astros to play his final season of football. The linebacker will head into the Rose Bowl as one of Oregon’s best defenders with a team-high 87 combined tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception.
Sabrina Ionescu wins the year
Let’s sum up 2024 for the former Oregon women’s basketball star:
Ionescu competed against Stephen Curry in a 3-point contest during NBA All-Star Weekend in February, got married to former Oregon football player Hroniss Grasu in March, saw the release of her wildly popular Nike Sabrina 2 shoe line in June, won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA in August and then won a WNBA title with the New York Liberty in a five-game series against the Minnesota Lynx in October.
Memorable March run for Oregon men
The 2023-24 men’s basketball season that had been marred by injuries and disappointing performances took a dramatic turn when the calendar flipped to March and the Ducks went on a memorable run.
They beat Utah in the regular-season finale to earn a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament, then won three edge-of-your-seat games against UCLA, Arizona and Colorado to cut down the nets in Las Vegas and earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Oregon won its Big Dance opener against South Carolina – thanks to a 40-point performance from Jermaine Couisnard – but lost in the second round in double overtime to Creighton.
That hot finish has carried over to this season as the Ducks have started 11-1 (heading into Sunday’s game against Weber State) and are ranked No. 9 nationally. Dating back to last season, Oregon is 16-2 in its last 18 games.
Marist Catholic expands its trophy case
What a year it was for the Spartans as they won five state team titles and nearly earned two more.
Two trophies came in November as the football team finished 12-1 with a 30-6 win against Henley in the Class 4A championship game to avenge their loss to the Hornets in the 2023 title game.
The girls soccer team defeated La Grande 5-0 to win their second state title in the past three seasons.
Last spring, the boys and girls tennis teams swept state titles. Then-sophomore EJ Roedl was the individual champion and the team of Peyton Tyner and Andrew Forsyth won the doubles title.
The girls were led by a third-place finish from then-freshman Whitney Hedden.
The boys golf team also won the state title, led by top-10 finishes from then-juniors Christian Guerrero and Nick Hudson, who placed fourth (tie) and ninth, respectively.
The Marist volleyball team was the state runner-up in November after losing in the championship match to Marshfield, 3-1.
The baseball team also played for a state title but lost to Scappoose, 5-4, in eight innings.
Thurston, Sheldon double up on state titles
Marist wasn’t the only school to win multiple team titles this past year.
In June, Thurston baseball won its second straight Class 5A baseball crown with a 2-0 victory against West Albany,
The Colts won the 6A/5A girls wrestling title as well, led by Izabella Castleberry’s individual victory at 155 pounds.
Sheldon also became back-to-back state champions in June with its 5-0 win against Glencoe in the 6A softball title game.
The Irish tied for the state title at the boys track and field championship meet in May. Malachi Schoenherr (3,000 meters) and Eli Forsha (triple jump) won individual titles. Schoenherr also won the state cross country title in November.
Oregon volleyball makes the Sweet 16
The Ducks had a successful run through their inaugural season in the Big Ten and played into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Oregon finished the season 24-8 with postseason wins at home against High Point and TCU, but the Ducks’ attempt to make a third-straight Elite Eight ended in a five-set loss to No. 1 Pittsburgh in the Sweet 16.
Mimi Colyer was named a second-team AVCA all-American, Onye Ofoegbu was named third-team all-American and Michelle Ohwobete was honorable mention.
Jaida Ross becomes the best-ever
The Oregon senior from Medford had a historic final season with the Ducks.
Ross recorded the top three women’s shot put throws in NCAA history, including the collegiate record of 65 feet, 7¾ inches.
She would win the NCAA title in June, finish third at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials to become the Ducks’ first Olympian in her event, and then finish fourth at the Summer Games in Paris.
Oregon baseball makes second-straight Super Regional
The Ducks opened the postseason with a bang last spring, going 3-0 at the Santa Barbara Regional to advance to a best-of-three Super Regional against Texas A&M.
Though Oregon lost both games to the Aggies, it was still the first time in program history that the Ducks played in consecutive Super Regionals.
Oregon ended with a 40-20 record — its second-straight 40-win season.
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG
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