TrackTown USA's Failed Bid Clears Deck for Busy Hayward Field Schedule

Eugene, Oregon's narrow loss to Doha, Qatar for the rights to host the 2019 IAAF World Outdoor Track and Field Championships does have a silver lining. It is a to-do list which would be a wish list for any other American city.

TrackTown USA—the local organizing entity tasked with capturing world-class competitions for Eugene—won't have the luxury of sitting idly by, wringing its hands. Now, the time, energy and financial resources which had been budgeted for the long campaign to "Eugene 2019" can be redirected to a rapid-fire schedule of national and global championship meets already tucked under its belt.

Not that the two-vote loss in Monaco didn't hurt. It was a bitter pill to swallow, considering the most dominant track and field nation in the 31-year history of the world championships (USA) has never hosted the event and has now been shut out of that honor until at least 2021.

But like the proverbial spoonful of honey, an agenda of worthy projects already on its plate back home must have been a welcomed sweetener to the disappointment in Monte Carlo.

Apart from the regular-season NCAA and high school championship meets at the University of Oregon's famous Hayward Field, a lineup of elite track meets awaits the TrackTown delegation as they return home. Let's take a look.

2015 Prefontaine Classic, May 29, 30

The 2019 world championships would not have been Eugene's first foray into gathering the world's best athletes for top-notch competition. The city has been doing it for decades via the annual Prefontaine Classic, one of the world's most prestigious invitational meets and arguably the most star-studded stop on the Diamond League circuit.

Famous for its grand finale Bowerman Mile on Saturday afternoon, the Nike-sponsored meet has expanded to a free-to-the-public Friday evening appetizer under the lights. The Saturday main course provides a textbook example of seamless, nonstop action, compressed into a three-hour window.

TrackTown always seems to come up with an innovative hook which makes each succeeding Pre meet the best one ever.

2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, June 10-13

As a testament to TrackTown's organizational skills and the notorious athlete appreciation from Hayward fans, Eugene was awarded the hosting privileges to America's ultimate collegiate meet through 2021.

Due to the international flavor of the U.S. collegiate track and field system, the NCAAs serve as an accurate preview of future Olympians, world champions and world record-holders. Again, another nod to TrackTown USA and Hayward Field for its knack of attracting the best from beyond its own borders.

And the University of Oregon's men's and women's teams, both powerhouse programs, inject an element of local interest which keeps the entire city engaged.

2015 U.S. National Outdoor Championships, June 25-28

This is the annual meet to determine the overall (pro and amateur) U.S. champions in every track and field event. In Olympic and World Championships (odd numbered) years it also serves as a selection meet to determine Team USA.

In 2015, the World Championships will be held in Beijing, China.

World Indoor Championships, Portland, March, 2016

It may seem ironic that a state noted for its winter rains does not have a single 200-meter indoor track suitable for hosting a large meet. But that is just the sort of audacious challenge TrackTown USA is noted for—in fact, even seems to relish.

TrackTown's most recent acquisition was gifted to its upstate big sister, Portland, the only logical place in Oregon to host a global indoor championship meet. Just across the Willamette River from downtown Portland, the Oregon Convention Center will site the meet under its expansive roof.

The apparent shortcoming (no current track in place) can actually be viewed as an asset. Having the advantage of overseeing the track's construction from the ground up, TrackTown can get creative and showcase president Vin Lananna's innovative ideas to the world.

Having the World Indoors in Portland also serves to emphasize the developing concept of a Portland-Eugene connection as a world-class track and field region—a feature which might enhance any future bidding projects.

And don't forget—this will be an Olympic year. It's the beginning of a four-year cycle many of the best athletes frame their training around.

2016 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials

As stated above, the Olympic Trials are the flashy quadrennial front for the annual U.S. national championships. The prestige of being selected for the U.S. Olympic track and field team makes this the most well-attended championship meet on American soil.

In 2016, as in 2008 and 2012, it's also an opportunity for Eugene and Hayward Field to show off a little. The U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials are truly a global event, as interest around the world is focused on this multiday meet every Olympic year.

Ongoing Hayward Field Expansion

This will be interesting. The sight of towering cranes and busy construction (timetable unknown) will be a secondary attraction to any Hayward events in the years hence. A much-needed expansion and facility upgrade has been promised and the curiosity factor is through the roof.

How will planners add permanent seating and still keep the intimacy and ancient features that give Hayward its charm? And what of a 200-meter indoor track worthy of a collegiate track program which has brought home multiple national indoor championship trophies?

These are the questions and challenges TrackTown USA gets paid to answer. It seems like a list that is at once exciting and daunting, but I'm willing to bet that right about now, Lananna and Co. can't wait to get back to work.

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