On Halloween, Ron Bellamy of the Eugene Register-Guard detailed plans for a new, improved Hayward Field, the legendary track stadium at the University of Oregon and site of the 2008 Olympic Trials. But it was no treat for masters track. The nut graf: “The major portion of the renovation project will start the day after the 2007 Prefontaine Classic, scheduled for June 10. In that phase, workers will demolish the infield, flattening it to remove the crown, and install a sand-based drainage system and new sod, (coach Vin) Lananna said.” Uhm, that means the two-day Hayward Masters Classic — a highlight of our circuit in late-June — may be a goner in 2007.

So here we go again — scrambling to save this major masters meet at the site of our 2000 and 2003 masters nationals.
I’ve written to Oregon TC folks to see what their plans are for the meet. Last March, they were forced to consider changing the date or locale.
Here’s the Register-Guard story:
The first stages of work to prepare Hayward Field to host the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials have begun without fanfare, even as University of Oregon officials seek approval to raise money for an even grander long-term vision of the venerable facility.
In June, the State Board of Higher Education authorized the UO to spend up to $7.39 million, to be funded entirely by gifts, on the improvements needed to prepare Hayward Field for the 2008 Trials, scheduled June 27 through July 6 of that year.
Friday, Oregon will ask the state board for permission to spend up to $25 million more, if donors are so inclined to contribute it, primarily on long-range improvements at Hayward Field – beyond the ’08 Trials – that could include the construction of additional permanent seats and even a facility suitable for hosting indoor meets.
“We’re looking at the prospects well down the road of what we might do to not only improve Hayward Field but expand on it,” athletic director Bill Moos said Monday. “Though nothing is in place in a draft plan, this gives us the ability to at least form a vision and look at where we want to go with track and field.
“We could be talking about some really neat things that would take Hayward Field beyond where it is now in terms of being considered the premier collegiate venue in track and field in this country.”
Moos made it clear that, in his view, any long-term improvements at Hayward Field that would be constructed after the Trials would take place after funds are raised to construct a new basketball arena.
“That’s my priority,” he said.
Moos said Oregon has raised close to $3 million of the $7.39 million that it considers necessary to make the permanent improvements needed so that Hayward Field can adequately host the Trials.
(Temporary improvements for the Trials, such as skyboxes, additional bleachers and a second video board for highlights, would come out of the operating budget for the Trials, according to Vin Lananna, UO director of track and field and co-chair of the Local Organizing Committee.)
“The excitement and the energy in the community have given us reason to believe we can raise that kind of money, the $7.4 million, and possibly go further,” Moos said. “We just want the flexibility not to have to stop at the $7.4 million, because in the grand plan it’s going to take more than that, not for the Trials, but for where we want to go with the program.”
The schematic photograph that accompanies this story was provided by the UO and depicts how Hayward Field is expected to look during the 2008 Trials.
Visible permanent improvements include the renovated infield, television-quality lights and a state-of-the-art replay screen on the south end of the track. Other permanent improvements would include an upgraded sound system and a modernized press row.
Temporary improvements for the Trials visible in the schematic include bleachers on the north (15th Avenue) and southwest ends of Hayward Field, and the skyboxes south and southwest of the East Grandstand and north of the West Grandstand, the latter being a two-level “champions club,” Lananna said.
The schematic also depicts a work tent for the estimated 1,000 media members on the intramural field behind the West Grandstand, and fan expo areas on 15th Avenue and the north portion of the field behind the West Grandstand.
For the Trials, Lananna said, Hayward Field’s seating capacity would be increased to 15,200 from its current official capacity of 10,500.
The modest first step of the renovation project, now underway, is the construction of a new walkway behind the West Grandstand, so that spectators can move easily around the venue. Positions have also been designated for the eight permanent light poles that will illuminate the track for evening competition, serving both spectators and television cameras.
Lananna said the lights could be installed by sometime during the UO track and field season next spring, along with a new state-of-the-art video scoreboard, located just south and east of the current scoreboard. (For the Trials, a second, temporary video board will be located at the north end of the track.)
The major portion of the renovation project will start the day after the 2007 Prefontaine Classic, scheduled for June 10. In that phase, workers will demolish the infield, flattening it to remove the crown, and install a sand-based drainage system and new sod, Lananna said.
The refurbished infield will feature new side-by-side high jump pits and shot put rings – to speed competition during qualifying rounds, as well as for use in the heptathlon and decathlon – as well as two pole vault runways and long jump and triple jump runways. Both the javelin runway and discus area would be moved, the latter to eliminate a potentially dangerous proximity to the pole vault area, Lananna said.
Lananna said the track itself will be resurfaced after the Pre Classic, and that bids are being sought. “We are confident that the surface selected … will be ideal for Olympic and World Championship-caliber performances by the world’s greatest athletes,” he said.
Because of the construction project, it seems unlikely that Oregon will host another high-performance meet next summer, such as the recent August meet to benefit the Professional Athletes Association. Lananna didn’t rule that out completely, but said “I’m a little frightened of anything that might delay re-doing the infield, because there’s a lot of stuff to do.”
Clearly, there’s a lot of stuff that Oregon might still want to do after the Trials, hence the request for permission to increase the spending limit by $25 million if the funds can be raised through donations. If approved by the higher education board, which meets Friday at Portland State University, the request would be forwarded to the Legislative Emergency Board for final approval.
Oregon is already scheduled to host the 2010 NCAA Championships, and Lananna said he’d personally like Hayward Field to become “a national site for track and field,” with the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships held here “a lot of years” and the NCAA meet perhaps awarded here permanently.
“If we can create a setting and an environment where everyone wants to go to it, and we have a community and a crowd to support these things, and a university that feels that this is an important part of what Eugene is all about, who knows what the future could bring?” Lananna said.
Moos acknowledged that there have been some preliminary discussions about future construction of a facility for indoor meets, though space is tight in the vicinity of Hayward Field.
“We’re still sketching this on a napkin and a lot of people are going to have to be involved in those discussions and we’re going to have to have a grand plan,” Moos said. “The important thing is that we’ve got things happening. We continue to be aggressive in our building, and to have this spending authority would give us flexibility, whether now or a little bit down the road, to continue to upgrade our track and field program, which is certainly our intent.”

Legal action, together with a cane taken to someone’s conscience, has led the Hayward Masters Classic to let Zell Brook run this weekend. Last year, the 59-year-old Corvallis woman, who is legally blind, was barred from competing in some middle- and long-distance events at the meet in Eugene, Oregon. The paper says: “Brook worked with three attorneys, including one for the non-profit Disability Rights Advocates, to challenge her disqualification in the 2003 national race and exclusion in the 2004 and 2005 Hayward Classics. In an April 14 agreement, however, USA Track and Field said Brook will be allowed to compete in any event the organization sponsors. She is to let them know in advance what races she wants to run, and they will contact the event organizer on her behalf.”

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