In 1971, the University of Oregon placed me in a room with a roommate, Kyle Jansson, who became my friend. This is not necessarily the expected outcome for roommates, especially not in the aptly named Dyment Hall.

While the housing office may have seen a connection through our paperwork, it has been track and field that has sustained this bond over the course of half a century. 

Numerous post-meet get-togethers with Kyle and his wife, Carol Harding, have kept us current on each other's lives. Late last summer we celebrated our half century of friendship.

After August's Pre Classic, the three of us walked around campus and came to Dyment. Now it was hidden behind overenthusiastic construction fences, and the face of the dormitory had been peeled off. Nothing to signal the passage of time better than having your dormitory torn down, to be replaced by tonier digs.

But perhaps the taller new structure will have better views of Hayward Field!