Ad and Joan Rutschman Fieldhouse -- Linfield College. Ad Rutschman (baseball) Stadium -- at Hare Field, Hillsboro
School District, Hillsboro, Oregon. Dennis Ludwig Stadium -- Sheldon High School, Eugene, Oregon. (Don) Hicks (softball) Field -- St. Francis Episcopal School, Houston, Texas.
Dale Newhouse Gymnasium -- Riverview Middle School, Bay Point, California.
Don Nicholson (football) Stadium -- Tracy High School, Tracy,
California. (Don) Schaefer (baseball) Stadium - North Salem High School, Salem, Oregon.
(Frank)
Smith & (Bob) Laycoe Varsity Weight Room -- University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, B.C.
Hal Smith Fitness Center -- Linfield College.
(Henry) Lever Street -- Linfield College campus.
Hugh Yoshida (football) Stadium -- Leilehua High School, Wahiawa,
Hawaii. Jack Riley Concourse at Goss (baseball) Stadium at Coleman Field -- Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore.
Jeff Basinski Athletic Center -- Forest Grove High School,
Forest Grove, Oregon.
Jeff Durham (football) Field -- Forest Grove High School, Forest
Grove, Oregon.
Joe Brock (baseball) Field -- Stayton High School, Stayton,
Oregon.
Lou Littlejohn (football) Field -- North Salem High School,
Salem, Oregon.
Michael OkuraMemorial (baseball) Field -- West Covina High School, West Covina, California.
Neal Abrahamson (track and football field) Field, Neah-Kah-Nie
High School, Rockaway, Oregon.
Pat Smith Athletic Complex -- Clackamas High School, Clackamas,
Oregon.
Paul Durham statue -- Linfield
College.
Paul Durham lobby and foyer inside Linfield College’s HHPA/Health, Human Performance
and Athletics building.
Paul and Judee Ward track -- Dallas High School, Dallas, Oregon.
Ron August (football) Field -- Dallas High School, Dallas,
Oregon.
Roy Helser (baseball) Field -- Linfield College. Ted Hippi (football) Field -- Toledo High School, Toledo, Washington.
On Nov. 22 in 1953, this story
and photo (click on photo above for a larger version) appeared in the Sunday Oregonian sports section:
Club Retires
Grid Jersey
Rutschman Gets
Linfield Honors
LINFIELD COLLEGE, McMinnville
(Special) – There will never be another 32 on a Linfield college football
uniform.
Action taken today by the college
student body and letterman’s club has decreed that all jerseys bearing the
number used by Linfield’s star fullback, Ad Rutschman, for the last four
seasons be placed on display in trophy cases and the number be permanently
retired from the Linfield football jersey list.
Rutschman has just completed a
four-year career that will go down as probably the greatest in Linfield history.
Sporting many nicknames, such as “Air Foam Ad” and “The Slippery Swiss,” the
ex-Hillsboro high athlete has led the Linfield ground gainers for four years.
The 5-foot-9, 182-pounder gained a total of 3390 yards from rushing plays, an
average of 5.1 yards per carry. His total of 1127 last season was eight best in
the nation.
Rutschman can add another 371
yards gained on passes thrown and 404 on the receiving end. He has also done
most of the club’s punting, averaging 34.5 yards on 155 punts. In his first three years at Linfield he was an all-Northwest conference selection twice. He
plans to become a high school teacher after graduation.
Paul Durham, Linfield coach,
while fully appreciating Ad’s running, passing and kicking talents, said:
“Greater than any of his accomplishments was his eternal desire to win and his
inspirational leadership of the team.”
Photo cutline:
Coach Paul Durham (right) and
Linfield’s star fullback, Ad Rutschman, talk over some of the big moments of
Rutschman’s four-year football career at Linfield. Durham holds up one of
Rutschman’s jerseys which will be put on display in the Linfield trophy case.
The number will be permanently retired.
POSTSCRIPT
from 2018:
Note
the story says, “In his first three years at Linfield he was an all-Northwest
conference selection twice.”
Research
shows in Ad Rutschman’s four seasons as a Linfield football player, he was
all-Northwest Conference four times, honorable mention as a freshman (1950) and
first team as a sophomore, junior and senior (1951, 1952 and 1953).
Brian Petersen and Mike Barrow, both Linfield Class of
1968, were teammates on Wildcat 1964 and 1965 (Championship Bowl) football
teams.
Brian from Medford, Ore., via Port Orchard, Wash., was a center.
Mike, from Prineville, Ore., was a quarterback on teams coached by Paul Durham.
During the Vietnam War, Brian was a hospital Corpsman, first
with the U.S. Navy and then with the U.S. Marine Corps. Mike, serving in the
infantry with the U.S. Army, died in combat in Vietnam in 1969.
The bond developed between football teammates and among those
who have served in the military is strong. Thus, it’s understandable that Brian
and Mike had such a bond.
Although Mike is gone, the bond remains, says Brian.
Because of it, Brian’s Linfield Football “Streak” ring has a
special inscription remembering Mike.
Photos include:
--Close-ups of Brian’s ring and “Remember Mike” inscription
inside it.
--Brian and Mike as Linfield center and quarterback.
--Still from video interview 11/10/2018, day before Veterans Day
11/11/2018, with Brian about Mike and the ring.
Famous
Linfield College Football Water Crew retires after 2018 Wildcat season
Some good things come to an end. That's the
case with the famous Linfield College Football Water Crew. The 2018 season was the
all-volunteer crew’s last.
Why? Their ages notwithstanding, they were
tired. Loved every minute of it. But, it was time.
The Linfield football Nov. 3, 2018, game in
Tacoma at University of Puget Sound – was the last "road" game for
the crew. Linfield won, 47-41.
The Nov. 10, 2018, Pacific University at
Linfield home football game in McMinnville on the college’s Maxwell Field was the
last home game and last game ever for the crew. That game won by Linfield, 50-7.
See video and photos posted here from that day.
Dedicated to Linfield and specifically
Linfield Football, the Water Crew’s members – John Schindelar, Jason
Schindelar, John O’Connor, Eric Lundeen and Bill Harlan -- were not Linfield
grads or had ever attended the college.
Nonetheless, crew members loved the
college, its football program – players, coaches and staff – and worked tirelessly
for the Wildcats.
And, although now retired from crew duties,
Linfield College Water Crew members continue to be ardent Linfield and Wildcat
fans.
=McMINNVILLE N-R STORY FROM 2014 ABOUT
LINFIELD COLLEGE FOOTBALL WATER CREW
Good Hydrations: Linfield football's
five-man water crew gives the program a lift
By ANDREW KILSTROM of The News-Register
Every Linfield home football game, John
Schindelar and his five-man water crew arrive at Maxwell field two and a half
hours before game time.
The men help prepare the locker room, mix
Gatorade, prepare the various water jugs and bottles and collect towels.
They then move to the field, where they set
up everything up for both the offense and defense, making sure everything is
perfect before kickoff is underway.
During the game, Schindelar follows the
defense with a “six-pack” of water bottles, ready for anyone who needs a drink.
John O’Connor does the same for the
offense.
Eric Lundeen is in charge of mixing all the
Gatorade and helps Schindelar with the defense.
Schindelar’s son, Jason, is in charge of
providing the coaches and referees with water at a moment’s notice, and Bill
Harlan roams the sideline doing whatever else is needed.
Together, the five men help Linfield run as
smoothly and efficiently as possible on game days, unnoticed by most, but vital
nonetheless.
“That’s our only goal, really,” John
Schindelar said. “To do whatever is needed of us and help out in whatever way
we can. Our main job is taking care of the water, but there’s a lot more we do
too.”
The group does more than work home games.
They work summer practices, making sure the players get the water they need.
Schindelar said their rule is to always be
at practice when it’s 80 degrees or warmer. They don’t always work practices in
the morning or later in the season when it’s cooler, but when they are at
practice — around 48 hours a week combined — they’re helping with more than
just the water.
In addition to handling the water,
Schindelar and company help equipment manager Mack Farag with cleaning helmets
and applying decals. They’ll stay as late as 10 p.m. some Fridays making sure
everyone’s helmet looks brand new for game day.
“They do a lot more than what you see on
game day,” said Tim Marsh, creator of the Wildcatville blog. “There’s so much
behind the scenes stuff that no one gets to see.”
The five members of the water crew are all
volunteers, donating their own time and money on road trips to serve the
Linfield football team. The entire group rarely travels to away games,
especially ones across the country like Saturday’s game against Hardin-Simmons,
but there’s always someone with the team to take care of the water.
This week it’s Schindelar traveling with
the team to Abeline, Texas. While it’s expensive at times, he said making the
trips with the team is always worth it. He’s experienced many great memories
during his 25 plus years of working on the Linfield water crew.
“I’d say the best memory is the year we won
the national championship,” he said. “There’s so many great memories and great
people you meet, but that was special. I still remember it, a beautiful day,
even though it was 15 degrees below zero. It was special.”
The members of the water crew aren't the
only ones that enjoy what they do for the Wildcats on a daily basis. Their
efforts don’t go unnoticed by the coaching staff and players.
Coach Joseph Smith and his team realize the
sacrifice and hard work the five men put in, and are always appreciative.
“I can’t say enough about our water crew
and the things they do for us every single day,” Smith said. “They’re out there
in the heat running around with water bottles, helping out with anything and
everything. Its people like them that allow our team be successful every single
year.”
Schindelar said he sees the appreciation on
an everyday basis. Interacting with the players has always been one of the most
appealing aspects to the position.
Nothing the crew does goes unappreciated by
the Wildcat players.
“The draw is that at division three you
have a really nice program,” Schindelar said. “You have really, really nice
kids. When we take water to them, every kid says, ‘thank you, appreciate you
being here today, this is the best water we’ve ever had.’ It just goes on and
on and on.”
Chances are Linfield will experience its
57th consecutive winning season this year, the all-time record for all
divisions of college football.
While the five men running around the
sidelines will often do so without recognition, their impact will be major. Win
or lose, Schindelar and his team are happy to do what they do.
“It’s just so much fun he said,” he said.
“Some of my best memories have come from Linfield football.”
=WILDCATVILLE
STORY FROM 2006 ABOUT LINFIELD COLLEGE FOOTBALL WATER CREW
Sunday,
Nov. 11, 2018, is Veterans Day. According to a Linfield grad/Delta Psi Delta
fraternity member, before the Saturday, Nov. 10 (1 pm PST kickoff) Pacific at
Linfield football game on Maxwell Field there will be a Veterans Day
observance.
Email the
grad and others Deltas received includes that “Mike Barrow will be mentioned
prior to the November 10thfootball game against Pacific. It is the 50th reunion
of his graduation class (1968). Because the game is just before Veterans Day,
we thought it would be timely both with the reunion and the sacrifice he made
with his life in Vietnam the next year. So come to Linfield's final game of the
season and remember our brother Mike for his sacrifice for his country during
the Vietnam War. Come early and view his memorial in the Linfield Library.”
Mike
Barrow, a Delta, was a Linfield quarterback. He died in Vietnam while serving with the U.
S. Army. Mike grew up in Prineville, Ore., and graduated from Crook County High
School there. He’s buried at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. There’s
a study room in Linfield’s Nicholson Library named for Mike. In the room are
framed items memorializing him.
Mike graduated from Linfield in spring 1968. In October of that year he enlisted in the U.S. Army. Soon thereafter, he began basic training at the Army’s Fort Lewis, Wash.
Mike’s Army tour of duty began April 3, 1969, in Vietnam. A private first class in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, he died during combat less than three months later. His death on June 23, 1969, in Long Khanh was a "hostile ground casualty" as a result of "multiple fragmentation wounds." He was 23 years-old and would have been 24 on July 3.
