Eric Dorn, Millennium Hall of Fame

One of the greatest track and field athletes ever to come out of

Estancia High, Eric Dorn could clear any hurdle and bound over the

highest obstacles.

A three-time CIF Southern Section 3-A champion -- twice in the high

jump and once in the long jump -- Dorn was a football and track star for

the Eagles in the mid-80s, earning a track scholarship to Rice University

and later becoming a decathlete.

But, these days, there’s trouble at the finish line. His oldest

daughter, Kendall, is involved in a race for life.

“My back’s up against the wall in this one,” Dorn said. “We’re looking

for any kind of hope, or something to hold onto.”

Kendall, 3 years and 9 months old, is terminally ill with Leigh’s

disease, an extremely rare genetic condition that effects everyone

differently. There is no known cure. Dorn said his daughter has been

taking an experimental drug that still doesn’t have a name.

“She’s the fourth kid ever to be on this drug,” said Dorn, who attends

monthly meetings with other parents whose children are afflicted by the

disease, which is so uncommon it lacks funding for research and

frustrates doctors.

“Doctors say when the diagnosis is terminal, children have two to four

years (to live), and we found out when she was 2 years old and now she’s

almost 4,” Dorn added. “The irony is unbelievable that I’m talking to you

(for the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame series), because of the way it

effects her physically. She has the mental capacity of a 4-year-old, but

physically she’s less capable than my 15-month-old (daughter, Cameron

Nicole).”

Dorn, who cherishes each moment with his daughter, was physically one

of Estancia’s best-ever athletes, a game-breaking split end and free

safety in football and a four-event standout in track and field.

Dorn went on to set school records at Rice in the javelin and

decathlon, and, as a freshman, finished third in the decathlon at the

Southwest Conference track and field championships in 1987. But injuries

-- he still has back problems and this year underwent two surgeries --

slowed his career.

“After (1987), I was just trying to keep everything together,” said

Dorn, who had a disk in his back removed last February. “I went to Rice

and figured track would be a lot easier on my body, then I became a

decathlete. I probably would’ve been better off (injury-wise) playing

football.”

Dorn, who received offers to play college football, including from

Colorado and San Diego State, won his first individual CIF track and

field title in the spring of 1985, capturing the high jump in the 3-A

division at 6-8. In 1986, his senior year, Dorn went 6-9 and won again.

In the long jump, Dorn was Orange County’s best (22-8 3/4) his junior

year going into the CIF 3-A finals at Cerritos College, where he cleared

23-4 to win the title.

In Sea View League dual meets, Dorn never lost in two years in any

hurdle, long jump or high jump competition.

“I guess I was a better jumper than anything else,” said the 6-foot-4

Dorn, who also ran the 110-meter high hurdles and 300 intermediates,

events in which he was among the county’s elite for two years, while

Estancia captured the league team championship in ’86 behind his high

point totals. Dorn, whose father, Jim, got him involved in youth track

meets at age 7, was Estancia’s leading receiver along with Adam Walburger

for two years under football coach Ed Blanton.

As a junior, Dorn caught 20 passes for 214 yards and four touchdowns,

including three in one game against host San Clemente in Week 3 of the

1984 campaign.

In Dorn’s senior year, the Eagles finished 5-5, but knocked off

heavily favored Corona del Mar, 21-16, in Week 7. On the second play of

the game, Dorn went 67 yards on a split end reverse for a touchdown,

silencing the Sea Kings’ homecoming crowd at Newport Harbor High.

Dorn caught 13 passes for 246 yards and four touchdowns that autumn,

an average of 19 yards per reception.

Dorn, who turns 31 on Nov. 5, lives in Costa Mesa and sells surgical

equipment. Today, he becomes the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports

Hall of Fame, celebrating the millennium.