You don’t need to tell Jesuit’s Grant Valley that Hayward Field is a special place; he’s well aware. But while some high school athletes’ nerves get the best of them when running on the facility’s hallowed grounds, the recent Crusader graduate said the enormity of the place has a way of easing him before and during competition.

“For me, it’s almost more calming to be on that track,” Valley said. “There’s so much around you that it feels like it takes some pressure off the race and you can enjoy all the fans and how beautiful it is. It kind of takes away the stress of actually running.”

That’s good news for University of Oregon head track & field coach Jerry Schumacher and the program in general, for this past week Valley committed to running for the Ducks this fall.

The decision to do so was a tad difficult because Valley had previously been committed to Southern Oregon University where he was slated to play football for the Raiders. But in the end, while he had and continues to have the utmost respect for Raiders head coach Berk Brown, when the chance to compete for the Ducks presented itself, it was a no-brainer for Valley.

“It was kind of an easy decision,” Valley said. “I had a really good conversation with coach Schumacher and I really felt like he wanted me. I felt like he was knowledgeable and knew what he was talking about. But at the end of the day, if you get an opportunity to run at Oregon, you can’t pass up on that.”

Valley’s road to Eugene wasn’t an easy one, however, for no one has been more surprised by his sudden emergence as one of the state’s historically best sprinters than he has.

To start the season, Valley had no expectations. He’d never broken 11 seconds in the 100 meters, and his times alone were by his own admission pedestrian as he prepared for his senior campaign. But three months later, he owns gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100 relay from the state track and field championships, and a state record in the 200 (20.86) to go with the state’s third fastest 100 (10.36).

“The last three months have been awesome,” Valley said. “I love my teammates, love my coaches, and going out to the track every day wasn’t even hard. Then I was making all this progress and I was like, ‘let’s keep going.’ I’m just continuing to get faster, and I’m really excited to see what the future holds.”

To understand just how far Valley has come, it’s not the future one should look toward, but rather the past.

In September of his junior season, Valley broke both his tibia and fibula in a football game against West Linn. The break was so bad that doctors told him that had he not taped his ankles prior to the game, the break would likely have been of the compound variety which could’ve meant muscle and nerve damage.

But don’t kid yourself, the injury was still serious and resulted in the junior having a metal rod and four screws placed in his leg and knee. From there it was a lot of rehab, some walking, ultimately some jogging, and even another surgery to remove a screw that was rubbing on a tendon in his knee before he stepped back on the track that following spring.

He didn’t compete initially, but as the season progressed he did step between the lines, even running at state as part of the Crusaders’ 4×100 relay team that placed 13th.

Things continued to progress over the summer, and then this past fall it was back to the football field for the first time since his injury.

It would’ve been natural for anyone to have had a level of trepidation stepping back onto the field of play, but Valley said he was comfortable from the jump.

“I wasn’t really hesitant,” Valley said. “I was more hesitant during rehab and stuff, but to get back on the field, I never really thought about it. I was just like, ‘let’s play.’”

And play he did, well enough to earn an offer from Southern Oregon to continue his exploits on the gridiron at the next level. But before that there was his final track campaign, which was really at the onset little more than an opportunity to enjoy what little he had left of his high school athletic career.

“That’s the thing, I was training for football, and a lot of the stuff I was doing didn’t really translate to track,” Valley said. “I’m a football player, but it was my senior track season and I was finally healthy, and I just wanted to go out and run, have fun and see what I could do.”

Valley opened his own eyes early in the season when he broke 11 seconds for the first time (10.89), did even better while winning at the Oregon Relays in Eugene (10.69), then came his record-breaking 200 meters at Sunset to close the regular season.

“That was the most surreal moment because it was the most unexpected thing,” Valley said. “Those meets really don’t matter, and I dropped a crazy time. That was crazy.”

But not as crazy as the accomplishments in the wake of what had been both a traumatic and debilitating injury just 18 months prior.

Valley, however, looks at it now as less of a setback, and more of a setup for what was ultimately bigger and better for the state champion sprinter.

“I look at it more like a learning experience,” Valley said. “I think it taught me a lot about hard work and how much work it takes to get back. I think I really became a better athlete after my injury.”

Oregon agrees, and both the school’s coaches and Valley himself think his best years are still yet to come.

“They (Oregon coaches) think my ceiling is really high, and I agree,” Valley said. “I haven’t ran any indoor track and never had track specific weight lifting programs. I’ve just been a high school track guy. I really think my ceiling is super high and I’m just going to get faster, especially at Oregon where I’ll get the best training in the world. I think I can do some really cool stuff.”

Now, with his high school career in the rearview mirror and a collegiate one approaching, Valley said that while he’s excited for what’s to come, he couldn’t be happier with how it all ended at Jesuit.

“To win state as a team, both boys and girls, that’s only happened a couple times,” Valley said. “Even at Jesuit, we win a lot of state titles in all sports, but being able to do that in my senior year feels really good.

“Then, committing to Oregon which is like a dream, it’s beginning to feel like all my injuries and surgeries were for a reason.”