Wichita State’s Gavyn Yetter read the Steve Prefontaine books and watched the movies. She explored the Prefontaine running trail near the team hotel and visited the memorial rock at the site of his death on a road in Eugene, Ore.
On Friday, she competes in the heptathlon in Hayward Field, the stadium Prefontaine and other great track and field athletes made famous as a shrine to the sport.
“It’s like you’re walking on holy land,” she said. “Track doesn’t get a lot of hype. When you’re there, you feel the hype. Like you’re meant to be there and you’re going to do something you’ve never done before.