ANTI-AGING SOLUTION.

Byline: Curtis Anderson The Register-Guard

The grand old stadium has never looked better.

Built in 1919 for the University of Oregon football team, two years passed before a six-lane cinder track was added to Hayward Field, first giving shape to what has become "sacred ground" for the sport of track and field.

Over the past nine decades, there have been numerous fixes and upgrades to Hayward Field.

But it wasn't until the most recent $8 million renovation - a necessary step in order to serve as a suitable host for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials - that the aging facility truly felt as if it belonged in the 21st century.

Vin Lananna, who will soon embark on his third outdoor season as UO track and field coach, is delighted with the transformation, which is near completion save for a few cosmetic touches.

All that's left is packing the place with loud and enthusiastic fans.

"This is just the beginning," Lananna said. "I believe we will redefine what Track Town, USA, is all about. We'll bring everything we can here. We are going to have something exciting to watch all the time."

That sentiment probably doesn't include the annual Oregon Preview meet on March 22, which kicks off the outdoor season, but it does provide the public with its first chance to scrutinize the changes to Hayward Field.

After almost nine months of construction, there are several new elements in place.

A futuristic video board, funded and designed by Nike, rises five stories high on the south end of the track. It will tell the stories of past performances and set the stage for future Olympians with high-definition replays and a crisp, new sound system.

The environmentally friendly lighting system shines directly onto a reconfigured infield, which now provides identical side-by-side venues for each field event, and is still visually dominated by a lush, green layer of sod.

The infield's old crown, which rose nearly three feet above the surface of the track, has been peeled away and leveled to give coaches, for the first time, an unobstructed view of their athlete's foot strike from both sides of the stadium.

The track itself has been resurfaced, and even the dark and gloomy press box, which sits along the top row of the West Grandstand, has been cleaned up with improved work stations and better lighting.

"I think we're in good shape," Lananna said. "Other than a few cosmetic things, I feel like the facility is where it needs to be."

But what about the Trials?

The 10-day event, set for June 27-July 6, is rapidly approaching, and besides the coordination of hundreds of volunteers and dozens of committees, there is still work to be done to make sure the "show" goes off as advertised.

For example, Lananna and Greg Erwin, who serve as co-chairs of the Eugene '08 local organizing committee, are still raising funds for the "fan festival" to be held each day of the Trials on the turf fields behind the West Grandstand.

The festival, which is free of charge, is designed to be a gathering place before, during and after each day's competition. It's a chance for those fans without tickets to participate in the Trials atmosphere.

They can watch live action of the meet on two jumbo video screens with the accompanying roar of the crowd, and take full advantage of a variety of exhibits and entertainment, including music, food, drinks and children's activities.

"We're still light on the funding piece," Lananna said. "But it's never been a situation where we couldn't run the Trials; it's a question of can we run it exactly the way we want. ... We're about a million and a half shy of having all the money to be able to run the show the way we want, and we want it to be a show."

There is some troubling background noise to the Trials effort.

A group of Sacramento-based track officials threatened to file a grievance with USA Track & Field over perceived "conflicts of interest" with the awarding of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials to Eugene, along with the 2009 and 2011 U.S. outdoor championships, and the 2010 NCAA championships.

"I'm not sure I understand the point of it all," Lananna said. "There was never any question that we planned to bid for the 2012 Trials. There was no secret about it. I talked about it the day we got 2008. We aren't doing all this as a one-shot deal. ... How can you be Track Town, USA, if don't host any meets?"

Lananna first outlined his "vision" for the sport nearly three years ago when he was hired as Oregon's new track coach in July of 2005.

It doesn't stop with hosting championship meets, renovating Hayward Field, restoring a vibrant postcollegiate scene or connecting the UO track program with a wide array of stakeholders from throughout the community.

One of his future goals is to bring an indoor track facility to Oregon.

Although he said it was "premature" to comment on those ideas, especially in light of the ongoing UO projects to build a new basketball arena and baseball stadium, he said such a facility would "complete the puzzle."

"Let's face it," Lananna said. "Track needs big, broad, exciting, audacious dreams and visions. That's what I try to do. That's why I came here. If you don't have big dreams and big visions, you can't get anywhere.

"And that's why indoor track is important. In order for the University of Oregon to have the most dominant track and field program ever assembled in the history of the NCAA, you need to do cool stuff, like build an indoor track, and bring big meets here. In this community, they would love it."

MORE ONLINE

Follow the local track and field happenings at www.registerguard.com/blogs