Hayward Field takes center stage.

Byline: Ron Bellamy The Register-Guard

If there's a theme that unifies the top 10 sports stories in The Register-Guard's coverage area for 2005, it's that so many major, major developments seemed unthinkable, or at least highly improbable, as the year began.

Like the best of games, 2005 featured stunning surprises, impressive comebacks, compelling performances and even some controversies.

Put it this way:

When 2005 began, Sacramento was still the prohibitive favorite to win the bid to host the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. Martin Smith was still the Oregon track and field coach. Vin Lananna was still athletic director at Oberlin College.

When 2005 began, the Oregon football team had spent Christmas break watching bowl games on television, after a 5-6 season. The Ducks had not yet hired Gary Crowton as offensive coordinator, nor installed the spread offense that replaced a system the Ducks had used since 1989.

When 2005 began, who knew this year would be the last full year in which Sheldon and South Eugene would play in the Midwestern League?

Or that a bunch of baseball players with Oregon backgrounds could lead Oregon State to the Pac-10 title and a berth in the College World Series?

Or that the OSU football team would boast the two best players in the nation at their positions, but end the year as the Ducks began it: 5-6, with no bowl game.

Makes you wonder what 2006 has in store.

Herewith, the top 10 stories of 2005 in The Register-Guard's coverage area, as voted by members of the newspaper's sports department:

1. Track Town Comeback: Eugene secures the 2008 Olympic Trials.

At the beginning of the year, on behalf of the Oregon Track Club, club president Greg Erwin filed a notice of intent to bid to host the 2008 Olympic Track & Field Trials, more out of a sense of duty than any real confidence that the Trials could be returned to Eugene for the first time since 1980. Sacramento, which hosted the Trials in 2000 and 2004, setting attendance records, was the overwhelming favorite; certainly, with some elements of the Oregon track community at odds with the University of Oregon program, there seemed little chance that Eugene could mount a competitive bid. But the change of leadership in the Oregon track and field program, and an impassioned and aggressive bid - led by new Oregon coach Vin Lananna, shaped by Nike marketing experts and including an emotional presentation by former Oregon distance runner Rudy Chapa - won the Trials for Hayward Field. Now, the real work begins; the estimated budget for the Trials is $8 million, with major improvements needed at Hayward Field.

2. The Return to the Top 10: University of Oregon football.

After his first losing season as the Oregon head coach, Mike Bellotti junked the offense that he brought to the Ducks in 1989 and replaced it with the spread, run by new offensive coordinator Gary Crowton. The Ducks went 10-1, surviving a late-season injury to starting quarterback Kellen Clemens and reaching No. 6 in the nation in The Associated Press poll. Oregon's string of sellouts at Autzen Stadium reached 42 straight games. The Ducks remained in the running for a Fiesta Bowl berth until the final weekend, and, with no BCS at-large berths available, earned a berth in the Holiday Bowl as the Pac-10's No. 2 team. If the Ducks defeat Oklahoma on Thursday, they'll record 11 wins for only the second time in UO history.

3. All Shook Up: The breakup of the Midwestern League.

In a decision that was ill-received in Eugene, the Oregon School Activities Association voted to implement a new six-classification system to take effect in the 2006-07 school year. The proposal is aimed at increasing competitive balance and reducing travel costs, but no league will be more affected than the Midwestern League, which will see South Eugene and Sheldon pulled out and placed in a new 6A league with North Medford, South Medford, Grants Pass and Roseburg. As the year ended, the Eugene School District had appealed the OSAA decision to the Oregon Board of Education.

4. Turmoil and Triumph: Oregon track and field.

Amid controversy and reasons that have not been fully disclosed, Oregon coach Martin Smith resigned on the eve of the Ducks' first outdoor meet. (He has since been named head coach at Oklahoma.) Star distance runner Galen Rupp of Portland enrolled at Oregon shortly thereafter. Smith's assistant coaches led the Oregon men to the Pac-10 title and were collectively honored as Pac-10 coaches of the year. The Ducks then hired nationally prominent Vin Lananna, the former Stanford coach, to replace Smith as director of men's and women's track and field, designating him as an associate director of athletics and signifying a renewed commitment to the sport. Lananna spearheaded the final push to secure the 2008 Olympic Trials. As the year ended, the 2004-05 Oregon women's recruiting class, Smith's last, was rated No. 1 in the nation by Track & Field News, while Lananna's first recruiting class netted Portland distance-running star Kenny Klotz.

5. A Cinderfella Story: Oregon State baseball.

A team made up mostly of kids from Oregon - 23 of 39 players on the roster - won the Pac-10 championship and reached the College World Series for the first time since 1952. The Beavers were 19-5 in the Pac-10, and 46-22 overall, including two season-ending losses in the CWS. They were ranked No. 2 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball after the regular season. OSU outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, co-player of the year in the Pac-10, hit .406 and was a first-round selection by the Boston Red Sox.

6. Back to the Dance: The Oregon women's basketball team.

Behind the play of three invaluable seniors - Cathrine Kraayeveld, Andrea Bills and Corrie Mizusawa - and a late-season spark from guard Brandi Davis, the Oregon women's basketball team, coached by former Oregon star Bev Smith, tied for second in the Pac-10 Conference and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since Jody Runge resigned in 2001. The Ducks won a first-round game for the first time since 1999 before being bounced out by Baylor, which went on to win the championship.

7. Growing Pains: Oregon men's basketball.

The Ducks billed it as the Team of the Century, but the young Oregon men's basketball team - featuring highly regarded recruits Malik Hairston, Bryce Taylor and Maarty Leunen - struggled during a difficult season, finishing 14-13, including 6-12 in the Pac-10, and failing to earn a berth in the Pac-10 tournament (which will include all 10 teams starting this season). There was also trouble off the court, with center Ian Crosswhite dismissed from the team; he later told an Australian newspaper it was for repeated use of marijuana. As the 2005-06 season unfolded, the Oregon team, with no senior starters, struggled with a three-game losing streak to Vanderbilt, Georgetown and Illinois.

8. Proud Preps: Local state championships.

In track and field, the Marshfield girls, behind a huge performance by star Leah Worthen, won the Class 4A title at Hayward Field, ending Benson's stranglehold on the crown. In the 3A meet, Marist senior Emily Collins anchored the victory in the 4x400 relay that provided the winning points in the Spartans' narrow triumph over North Bend for the 3A state title. And then the Mohawk and Marist football teams ended the year by winning the 1A and 3A titles, respectively, in Autzen Stadium.

9. Trophies, Trouble and No Bowl: Oregon State football.

Two former walk-ons, wide receiver Mike Hass and placekicker Alexis Serna, walked off with trophies awarded to the best in the nation at their positions. Hass, who led the nation in receiving, won the Biletnikoff Award, while Serna - whose introduction to the national spotlight came when he missed three extra points in a loss at LSU in 2004 - rose from that adversity to win the Groza Award. However, the Beavers were blown out in the Civil War to finish 5-6, and there were many disgruntled fans, upset both about the performance on the field and some well-publicized off-field incidents involving OSU football players earlier in the year, incidents that compelled OSU to adopt a new policy on discipline for athletes. The Beavers opened the $80 million expansion of Reser Stadium but never managed to sell it out at the new capacity of 43,300.

10. A Man for All Seasons: Jordan Kent.

The former Churchill High School star shocked Oregon fans, not to mention his family, when he decided to try out for football in August; he'd never played tackle football. Kent was already a key player for dad Ernie Kent's Oregon men's basketball team, and had contributed to the Oregon men's Pac-10 track and field championship as a sprinter; in the NCAA meet, he ran a leg on the 4x400 meter team that set a school record. When Kent stuck with the football team, the junior became the first male Oregon athlete in 50 years to letter in three varsity sports. Though Kent saw little action in his inaugural football campaign, he made one of the biggest plays of the season, catching a bomb from Dennis Dixon for a crucial 68-yard touchdown in a 34-31 victory at Washington State.

TOP 10

LOCAL

STORIES

1. Olympic Trials return: Countdown to 2008 begins.

2. Oregon football: Ducks again a national presence.

3. OSAA realignment: Midwestern League in final months of its current incarnation.

4. UO track and field: Triumph and tribulations amid coaching change.

5. OSU baseball season: Beavers reach World Series.

6. UO women's hoops: Ducks wear dancing shoes.

7. UO men struggle: Young team takes its lumps.

8. Prep titles: Marist, Marshfield, Mohawk win

9. OSU football woes: A year for individual awards as team sinks.

10. Three-sport Jordan: Track and basketball just weren't enough.

CAPTION(S):

Maria Mutola wins the 800 meters at the Prefontaine Classic in June at Hayward Field, which was chosen to host the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. Greg Wahl-Stephens / The Associated Press Oregon State celebrates a game-winning home run against Ohio State in the NCAA baseball regionals. Chris Pietsch / The Register-Guard The Ducks delight in a Civil War victory over Oregon State that gave them a 10-1 regular-season record. Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard The Marist girls 4x400 relay team of Emily Gillespie, Elena Collins, Brenn Donnelly and Emily Collins celebrates a victory that clinched the state track and field title for the Spartans. Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard Oregon State quarterback Matt Moore fumbles the ball on a hit by Arizona's Jonathan Turner during the Wildcats' 29-27 victory. The Beavers played their first season in expanded Reser Stadium and finished a disappointing 5-6.