A funny thing happened to fifth year PSU senior track and field athlete JJ Rosenberg when he was a junior at Pendleton High School.
 
 A multi-sport athlete with what he thought was a future in college football, he ran track mostly to stay in shape.
 
It was a couple weeks before the conference junior varsity meet and Rosenberg missed a couple of practices.  The punishment:  He was entered in the grueling 440 yard dash, which, to the astonishment of everyone, he won.  A couple weeks later, he took first in the varsity conference meet.
 
 “I had no idea I could do that.  I never thought of myself as a 440 runner.  Long jump was my favorite (which he still does…having jumped 21 feet 3.56 inches, taking fifth in the Jackson Open this year).
 
Up to that point, he'd wrestled and played football basketball and baseball in a multi-sport career, lettering three times in football, wrestling and track.
 
A free safety, he'd talked with the coaches at Western Oregon and “I thought I'd probably play college football.”  He was All-Eastern Oregon and All-Conference as a defensive back.   But when he showed such promise in the 440, he decided he'd better rethink those plans.  As a high school senior, he was 4X400-meter relay and 400-meter dash champion as a senior, runner up in the 4x100-meter relay and long jump and a top-eight finisher in all-four events at the state championships.
 
He gave up football his senior year in high school and, after talking to his parents and track coach, decided to see where track would take him at Lane Community College's Pendleton campus … and, it took him quite a way.
 
At Lane, he was a two-time All-American there, in the 440-relay as a freshman and the 440 as a sophomore.  That brought him the attention of the Viking coaching staff. 
 
His mother, Melody, grew up in Kelso and was working in Portland when she met and married Joe Rosenberg.  The pair lived in Portland for a couple of years, but wanted a smaller community in which to raise their children (JJ and three sisters Cristina, Corrina and JoAnna). 
 
“My goal was to have a new experience, one of the reason's I chose PSU,” he said, suggesting that it's quite a jump from the flat wheat fields between Hemiston and Pendleton to downtown Portland.  Also, “Mom thought living in Portland would be a growing cultural experience for me.”
 
Still, he had a history of wanting more than life on the family acreage, perhaps the result of a most unusual occupation by his dad who, during his early years, was a traveling rodeo performer, a little roping, but mostly steer wrestling.
 
For the first few years of his life, Rosenberg (whose nickname on PSU's track team is “Rodeo” traveled a lot with his dad, missing a lot of school during his first and second grade.  And, since he was growing up with it, he began trying his hand at steer wrestling and roping very early, in fact, so early that he doesn't remember when he started.
 
His interest in other sports manifested itself at an early age, for a very pragmatic reason.
 
“I started wrestling in kindergarten.  When you're 18 miles out of town, you'll look for any excuse to get to town.  That's where I had to go to wrestle,” he said.
 
He continued to perfect his steer wrestling skills during grade school, but put it on a back burner because of other athletic pursuits in high school.  And, after missing so much school his first two years, his parents wanted him to adopt a more academic outlook.  So he concentrated more on school and only traveled occasionally (“a couple weeks here and there”) to watch his dad.
 
 “Rodeo was part of my family, but when I got to high school, I wanted to try something new,” Rosenberg recalled.  And, when he started high school, he dad began touring less, concentrating more on training horses, so he follow his son's athletic career.
 
After the successful two community college years, Rosenberg transferred to Portland State as a junior and had a pretty good first year, setting personal bests in 11 events and in the heptathlon and Decathlon.  Then, he got a concussion while attempting a pole vault, missing the pit and hitting the turf with a thud last season.
 
 “He's a fifth year senior and we redshirted him last year so he could have a full year indoor and outdoor this year,” said Seth Henson, assistant track and field coach.
 
Although Rosenberg is officially listed as a multi-events athlete, “he's our top 400 guy this year. He's had a break out year,” Henson said.
 
That's been partly due to decision Rosenberg made last summer.
 
Over summer and holiday breaks, he always had a lot of responsibilities at home.  For example, over one break, he helped his dad tear down and rebuild a shed and he has horses and working with them takes a lot of time.
 
 “Last summer and this Christmas break, I thought I'd be foolish if I didn't put the time and effort I needed into training for track.  I guess over the last year, I've learned to prioritize my time better,” he said.
 
That has paid off, said Henson.
 
 “He decided to stay and work out over the summer and, when he went home at Christmas, he did all the things he was supposed to do.  He made a commitment to track this year, and it's really showing,” said Henson.
 
So far this year, he's finished first in the 400 at the University of Washington invitational and third in the University of Washington Preview.  He placed fifth in the long jump at the Jackson Open and has been a top 10 finisher in six out of 10 meets this year.
 
Besides track, Rosenberg said PSU has provided a great opportunity overall.
 
 “I've had so many great experiences I'd have missed if I hadn't come to PSU… just seeing so many different types of cultures and made me better at understanding people.  It opened my eyes to a wider array of cultures and it's been a treat to be around all the different people.  And, people are really friendly here, more so than in other cities I've visited,” he said.
 
Still, you can take the boy out of the country but, you can't take the country out of the boy.
He's enjoyed his experience here but plans to head back Eastern Oregon when he's finished.
 
“I still like the laid back aspect of a smaller community.  People here always seem stressed out and I don't want to be stressed out,” he said, admitting that he'll miss the green and trees.  He also marvels at how clean Portland is compared to other cities where his track career has taken him (he recently returned from New York, for example).
 
That laid back attitude permeates his attitude toward track and may go a long way to summing up Rosenberg's overall outlook on life.
 
“It's cool to win, but it's just a race.  It's a great feeling, but I don't get too pumped up about it.”
 
At this point, he's not sure what his future holds.  He's still interested in steer wrestling and will participate in next fall's Pendleton Roundup.  He is a health studies major and was  considering a career as a high school health teach “but with what's been going on, I may need to re-think that.”
 
Rodeo has been his hobby and he doesn't rule doing more of that completely out, but you get the sense it's unlikely.
 
“It's something you can do for a long time.  My dad is still wrestling steers at 62.  Of course, he has new knees and has broken just about every bone in his body... I'll see where life takes me.  There are a lot of opportunities out there.  We'll see what doors open.  It's funny how life is,” he said.