Don “Boomer” McCrea says he’s known he was blessed with natural athletic ability since the third grade.

At 76, the Redmond native continues to prove it.

McCrea picked up the Adult Male Athlete of the Year award in September in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He received the honor from a pool of 34 nominees representing each state that is part of the National Congress of State Games.

“I was in shock by winning the athlete of the year for the State Games of Oregon,” McCrea said. “But to be mentioned for the National Athlete of the Year, with 33 other people, it’s like winning the Heisman Trophy.”

The event included former NFL and NBA players, as well as Olympians, McCrea said. It was attended by 2,000 people.

“It’s a big gathering they put on,” he said.

He was honored after competing in six events at the State Games of Oregon track and field competition in August, as well as the diving competition in July. He won a total of two gold, three silver and a bronze medal.

In his younger days, McCrea hauled now-Mayor George Endicott around in a little red wagon. Though McCrea moved away from Redmond in 1959, the Redmond Union High School graduate still keeps up with his hometown, keeping a subscription to the Spokesman.

He developed his love for sports in Redmond, starting his own five-man football team with his own playbook when he was in elementary school.

“I was all over the place, the gymnasium, the football field, mascot of the high school basketball team, part of the tumbling team for the high school, on the trampoline, also swimming and diving at the age of 5,” McCrea said in his speech in Atlantic City.

McCrea was inspired by the 1951 movie “Jim Thorpe — All American,” about the legendary Olympic champion, football and baseball star. He said the film made him want to be an All-American, though he didn’t realize it would take him until he was 62. He made his own vaulting pole using broomstick handles and string.

In recent years, McCrea has been named All-American in pole vault more than 20 times by USA Track and Field.

But the road to becoming a star athlete wasn’t easy. McCrea decided against playing sports in college, despite being recruited by the universities of Oregon and Washington, because he didn’t think he could handle the classroom. He also did not want to have to specialize in a sport.

“God didn’t want me to go to college or the pros,” he said. “He wanted me to have the feel of everything, football, basketball, track and field, swimming and diving and riding my horse, Rowdy. I went sport by sport and continue to do so — I want the feel of everything.”

At 50, McCrea, who had a long career in sales with The Oregonian, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He said they didn’t talk about mental illness when he was younger, so having sports allowed him to survive it. He credits the athletic events he continues taking part in with keeping him alive.

“I believe you need to ‘use it or lose it,’ and ‘keep the heart pumping,’” he said.

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com