Athletic Heritage Hall

The programs that have been offered over the years at ˿Ƶ Tech include (click the drop-down arrows to find out more):

Ball Sports:

The ˿Ƶ Tech baseball team was started in the 1950-1951 school year and rapidly developed into an athletic program for the school. In its year of creation, the team achieved an intercollegiate victory under Coach Art Kirkland.
The first men's ˿Ƶ Tech basketball team, the Owls, was established in 1947, the first year the ˿Ƶ Vocational school was founded. The first women's ˿Ƶ Tech basketball team was started in the school year of 1975-1976. 
The ˿Ƶ Tech football team started in 1948 under Coach Dale Daugherty. The first game was played on September 18th, 1948. The team played its last game in the school year 1992-1993. 

The golf team first debuted in the school year of 1960-1961 under Coach Rex Hunsaker. The first year the team participated in two contests and the ˿Ƶ Collegiate Conference Meet. The following year golf became a full season sport. The golf team was called the Clubbers.  

The golf team represented the college sporadically over the years and it is presently a recognized sport at ˿Ƶ Tech.

The Rugby Sports Club has been led by Coach Kevin Brown from the year 2001 to present.
Women's softball was added to the sports roster in 1975-1976. The first coach of the softball team was Coach Mary Crawford (Bradford). The first trophy ever won by the team was in the school year 1977-1978 where they took second place in the Open Invitational Tournament.

The first mention of the men's soccer team in archive records is 1977. The following year a Coach John Lund was instated due to players dislike of their first coach, who was a player acting coach.  

The first mention of a women's soccer team was in the school year 1999-2000. The head coach in the year 1999 was Mike Cornachione.

The tennis team, known as the ˿Ƶ Tech Netters, was first established in the school year of 1963-1964. The team’s first coach was Mr. Ron Pheister, who additionally served as the head coach for the football team and the coach for the golf team.  

In the school year 1975-1976 the school began offering tennis to women as well.

The tennis team represented the college sporadically over the years. The last mention of them in archive records is 1975-1976.

In the school year 1975-1976 the school began offering volleyball to women. Previously there were no sports available for women at OT. The first volleyball coach was Mary Crawford (Bradford). She additionally coached the first ˿Ƶ Tech women's basketball team and women's softball team. 
Baseball team portrait (unknown year)
Picture of a footbal game in progress

Other Sports:

The first boxing team was established in 1956. Coach Ralph Carr led the club that included 9 members. Past the year of creation there was no information to be found about the team. It is unknown if they continued for additional years or were in existence for only the school year of 1956.

The first mention of the ˿Ƶ Tech Crew in the archives collection was in the school year 1979-1980. That year, under Coach Doug Herland, at competitions there was an OT junior varsity four-man, a junior varsity eight-man, a heavyweight pair, a heavy weight four-man, a heavyweight eight-man, a novice four-man, a varsity four-man, a men’s lightweight four-man, and a women's novice four-man boat.  

In the year 2020-2021 rowing was offered as a physical education class, though there is no mention in present times of an existing Crew Club.

Cross-country started as an event at ˿Ƶ Technical Institute in 1957 due to the efforts of Milton Mayfield, George Papen, Eugene Garner, and Wayne Morrison.  

The first venture into a cross-country competition was in 1960-1961 where the team, the Owls, finished their short season by getting second place in the conference meet, just behind the Portland State team.  

The cross-country team represented the college sporadically over the years. The program was dropped in the late 1970’s and not reinstated officially until 1995. At times, the team would meet and practice even though there was no formal program for cross-country that year. In 1988-1989 the first full-team in thirteen years was fielded in the Raider Invitational Cross-Country Meet in Ashland, even though the team was not part of an official college program that year.  

In 1995 the program was begun anew with both a male and female team (the first women's cross-country team at ˿Ƶ Tech).

The ˿Ƶ Tech Fencing club is new to campus. It was started in 2020 by Kagan Bixler, but due to denials of funding to buy proper equipment, the first meeting could not occur until Saturday, October 30th, 2021. The club now has funding and a number of equipment sets. It hopes to eventually offer a range of fencing types but currently is centered around epee fencing.  

At the time of its first meeting the club included 25 members and by the third active week had already gained 10 new members. The club was hopeful to continue to see an increase in numbers in the future months. They stated they desire to eventually be trained enough to participate in fencing competitions.

The first image of the Rally Squad is from the school year 1975-1976. This is the same year that ˿Ƶ Tech began to offer women the option to participate in volleyball, tennis, and basketball.  

Eventually the Rally Squad became known as the Cheer and Dance Squad. The last mention found online of the ˿Ƶ Tech Cheer and Dance Squad is in 2014.

The rodeo club began in the 1955-1956 school year. That same year one club member named Jerry Miller won the Regional Championship in bareback riding.  

In their second year of existence, 1956-1957, the club entered teams into 5 rodeos and hosted the West. Coast Regional Finals on May 25th and 26th at the Klamath fairgrounds.  

The rodeo club required entrance fees for competitors at the varying rodeos and had cash prizes for winners. In 1960 the minor sport of Rodeo disappeared from all public institutions in ˿Ƶ, including ˿Ƶ Tech, due to financial considerations, its hazardous nature, and more. However, it reemerged at ˿Ƶ Tech in 1978.  

In the school year 1978-1979 the Rodeo club participated in the first sponsored Rodeo since 1959. In April both men and women of the club went to the Intercollegiate Rodeo for the Northwest Reion.

The last mention of the Rodeo club in ˿Ƶ Tech Archives is in the year 1979.

The Skiing Sports Club existed for one year with one member who originally lived in Anchorage, Alaska. 

In the school year of 1950 a varsity tack team was started and led by Coach Forest “Skeet” O'Connell, but it was abandoned in April of 1952.  

The track and field team started again in the school year 1955-1956 with only 15 members. The team won the ˿Ƶ Collegiate Conference for Track in their first year of existence.  

The next year the now 20 members participated in a variety of events including: the 440, 880, relay, sprints, distance, discus throw, javelin, shotput, high jump, and the broad jump. They again won the ˿Ƶ Collegiate Conference, for the second year in a row.  

The first mention of women on the track and field team in archive records was the 1995-1996 school year.

The track and field program continues to this day. 

The Wrestling team started in 1953 under Coach Bob Smith. Coach Smith left in 1955 and the team did not pick up again until 1959 under Coach George Miller. The last mention of the Wrestling team in archive records is 1991. Over the years the wrestling team won a number of competitions. 
      
OTI cheerleaders practicing
Wrestling team portrait -- unknown year