EUGENE — From the time cousins Ryan and Sam Crouser were toddlers, they grew up looking forward to Wednesdays.
It was on Wednesdays that their grandmother, Marie, babysat them at her Gresham home. There, Marie let the boys be boys.
They hiked, hunted bugs, played with toy trucks, dug holes in the dirt. They became closer than just cousins in the process.
"It really created a strong bond between us," Sam said. "That was always a fun day for us."
Wednesday afternoon at Hayward Field was shaping up to look the same.
Though track meets have always resembled de facto family reunions for the Crousers — grandfather Larry, husband to Marie and a national javelin champion while in the U.