Article on the PAA meet 8/12/06 Eugene, OR

[rainbowgirl28]

There will be a men's PV, but no women's.

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/ ... ion=sports

August meet focuses on being different
By Ron Bellamy
The Register-Guard
Published: Monday, June 26, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS - Former Olympic gold medalists and world champions are among the athletes who have committed to compete in the innovative track and field meet - titled the Road to Eugene '08 - scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 8, at Hayward Field.
"This is going to be different," Oregon director of track and field Vin Lananna said Sunday, discussing the first wave of entrants in the new Eugene meet at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Carroll Stadium.
"It's not going to be Prefontaine. It's not going to be the conference championships in the Pac-10. Every athlete loves to compete in Eugene. There can't be a more ideal time to be in Eugene than the beginning of August. We've got all the ingredients to make this a great event."
Some of the bigger names already committed for the men's events include high hurdlers Allen Johnson and Terrance Trammell, 400-meter hurdler Bershawn Jackson, shot putter Christian Cantwell and discus thrower Ian Waltz, and a field of elite pole vaulters that will include Russ Buller, who won here Saturday, and Oregon's Tommy Skipper.
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In women's events, headliners who have said they plan to compete will include Sanya Richards, who has won two straight national championships at 400 meters; Rachelle Boone-Smith, who won the 200 here Sunday; Joanna Hayes, the recent Olympic gold medalist in the 100-meter hurdles; Anjanette Kirkland, the former world champion in the 100 hurdles; and long jumpers Tianna Madison, who won the long jump in the World Championships last year, two-time national champion Grace Upshaw and Rose Richmond, who won here Saturday.
Additional names, expected to include prominent athletes, will be announced as athletes and their agents confer after the USA championships, Lananna said.
The two-hour meet will have 15 events and is scheduled to start about 6:30 p.m., Lananna said. Nationally televised, the event will benefit the newly formed Professional Athletics Association, a union for elite U.S. athletes that is seeking to provide retirement benefits and other support.
Tickets for the August meet, priced at $15 for reserved seats and $10 general admission, go on sale on Monday, July 3, through the UO Athletic Department ticket office.
Although athletes' plans may change because of injury or other issues, there aren't any other meets for American athletes in that period other than a USA vs. China exhibition meet in Hershey, Pa., the previous Saturday.
Lananna said the Eugene meet was scheduled so that athletes could compete in both meets, and he expects some to do that.
Some of the premier events are shaping up to be the 110-meter hurdles, the shot put, the pole vault (Buller, Skipper, Toby Stevenson, Brad Walker, Nick Hysong and former Olympic champion Tim Mack), the 1,500 meters (including Gabe Jennings, who finished second here Sunday) and a unique event, the 300 meters.
Top women's events, Lananna said, will include the 200 (Richards, Boone-Smith), long jump, 800 and hurdles. There will be at least one distance race - steeplechase, 5,000 or 10,000 - each for men and women.
In addition to Skipper, the fields will include current and recently graduated Oregon athletes, as well as members of the U.S. team that will compete in the World Junior Championships Aug. 15-20 in Beijing, China.
That will include Rebekah Noble, the UO freshman, who will likely run against the post-collegiates at 800 meters.
"She's going to be in the 800, and she's going to run fast," Lananna said.
The meet is a cooperative effort between the Local Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Trials - which committed to stage such a meet in presenting its successful bid and is providing the $200,000 prize money - USA Track & Field, which is providing travel expenses for the athletes; and the USATF Athletes Advisory Committee, contributing toward lodging.
In all, Lananna figures a total investment of $450,000 by the various partners, and though word of the meet has spread slowly among athletes, he expects strong fields and an entertaining event.
"The difficulty is that this is new, and no one is quite sure how it's going to play out, and it's going to take a little leap of faith that we're going to get all the details worked out," Lananna said. "I have no doubt that it will be a great event."
Craig Masback, chief executive officer of USATF, noted the pool of prize money and said, "There are very few athletes who can't take that prize money seriously."
Two other elements will make the meet attractive to athletes, Masback said. First of all, athletes will have an investment in the meet because the gate receipts will benefit the newly formed PAA.
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Harkening back to the battles that Oregon's Bill Bowerman and Steve Prefontaine fought with the old governing body, the Amateur Athletics Union, in the 1970s, and to the union that athletes, including Masback, attempted to form during the 1980 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Masback said it's fitting that the first meet to benefit the athletes' association will be held at Hayward Field.
"To me this is the fulfillment of so many wishes and dreams," he said. "There's important symbolism that this is taking place in Eugene, where a lot of that got going in the early 1970s."
Second, Masback said, the meet will feature innovations designed to improve the experience for both athletes and spectators.
"It's about letting the fans have a different experience," Masback said. "This is a meet by and for athletes, and what the athletes want to do is have the experience be different."
Masback said the meet will be "a laboratory for trying out some things" that he hopes become commonplace.
For example, Lananna said, athletes may go into the stands to converse with spectators after events, there will be live music either before or after the meet, and other different approaches - such as the odd-distance 300 meters - will be tried.
Several other events will be scheduled around the meet in Eugene.
On the night before the meet, the Local Organizing Committee will launch the Road to Eugene '08 by introducing the brand and logo for the Trials, launching the Web site, announcing Trials ticket prices and unveiling preliminary plans for the refurbishing of Hayward Field.
The U.S. team that will competing in the World Junior Championships will hold a training camp in Eugene Aug. 5 to Aug. 9, and Lananna said the community will be invited to a barbecue for the team at Hayward Field on Sunday, Aug. 6.
That team includes Noble and future Oregon runner A.J. Acosta of Oceanside, Calif.

[SweetPVJumps]

that info confused me. whats this meet about? is it a small elite meet and also some sort of training camp with the junior team?

[rainbowgirl28]

It's an elite meet, with a few of the juniors who are good enough to help fill out the fields. Not sure what the deal is with the junior training camp, this article was the first I heard of it.

[rainbowgirl28]

TICKETS ON SALE JULY 3, FOR ROAD TO EUGENE 'O8

EUGENE, Ore. (June 30, 2006) --- Track and field fans can begin to buy
tickets Monday, July 3, for Road to Eugene '08, an elite high-performance
meet benefiting the Professional Athletics Association, on Tuesday, August
8, to be held at the University of Oregon's legendary Hayward Field.

"We want to pack Hayward Field with fans to give the U.S. Junior Team a
proper sendoff to Beijing and support the exciting elite athletes who always
compete so well in Eugene," says Vin Lananna, co-chairman of the Eugene
Local Organizing Committee and University of Oregon associate athletic
director/director of track and field. "This meet represents the local
organizing committee's commitment to its partnership with USA Track and
Field and the Athletes Advisory Committee to provide high-performance meets
in the U.S. during the summertime."

The meet will benefit the Professional Athletics Association (PAA), which
was established to ensure that the rights of its professional athletes are
protected and that everything possible is being done to help athletes
maximize their opportunities and achieve their goals on and off the track.
This inaugural Mid-Summer Classic will feature many of America's top track
and field athletes who will be competing for $200,000 in prize money.

Elite athletes already committed to compete in the meet include Allen
Johnson, Olympic 110-meter hurdles gold medalist; two-time Olympic silver
medalist, in the 110-meter hurdles, Terrance Trammell, will run the
100-meter dash; 2005 World Outdoor 400-meter hurdle champion Bershawn
Jackson; 2006 world shot put leader Christian Cantwell and 2005 World
Outdoor shot put champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist Adam Nelson;
and 2005 discus national champion Ian Waltz.

The men's pole vault event is loaded with Olympians and national champions,
including 2004 Olympic gold medalist Tim Mack, 2004 Olympic silver medalist
Toby Stevenson, 2006 World Indoor champion Brad Walker, 2006 national
champion Russ Buller, 2000 Olympic gold medalist Nick Hysong, and four-time
NCAA champion Tommy Skipper.
Also in the field are former University of Oregon athletes Eric Mitchum, a
five-time All-American and three-time Pac-10 champion in the 110-meter
hurdles, and sprinter Matt Scherer, a two-time All-American in the
400-meters. Scherer will compete in a special 300-meter race.

In the women's events, athletes who have said they will compete include
Sanya Richards, 2006 national indoor and outdoor 400-meter champion;
Rachelle Boone-Smith, 2006 national 200-meter champion and 2005 World
Outdoor silver medalist; Joanna Hayes, 2004 Olympic 100-meter hurdle gold
medalist and Olympic record holder; long jumpers Tianna Madison, who won the
world championships last year, two-time national champion Grace Upshaw and
current national champion Rose Richmond. Additional men and women athletes
participating in the meet will be announced soon.

In addition to the elite athletes, the U.S. Junior National Team will be
competing in the meet, marking the end of their training camp in Eugene
before leaving for the 2006 IAAF World Junior Championships August 15
through 20 in Beijing, China. The Junior team features the nation's best up
and coming athletes, including the University of Oregon's Rebekah Noble in
the 800 meters and future Duck distance runner A.J. Acosta of Oceanside,
Calif.

The two hour meet is expected to be televised nationally and will feature 20
events. There will be many opportunities for young fans to participate and
meet athletes, get autographs, run a half-lap race and much more.

The meet is sponsored by Nike and the Eugene Local Organizing Committee for
the 2008 U. S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, in partnership with the
Professional Athletics Association (PAA), USA Track & Field (USATF) and its
Athletes Advisory and High Performance Committees, the University of Oregon,
and the Oregon Track Club. The Olympic Trials will be held in Eugene at
Hayward Field, June 27 through July 6, 2008.

Tickets for the Road to Eugene '08 are $15 each for reserved seating and $10
each for general admission. They are available July 3, at the Casanova
Center ticket office, www.goducks.com , and 800-WEBFOOT.

-End-

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml ... LID=324313

Tickets On Sale For Road To Eugene '08 High-Performance Meet
07/03/2006 - GoDucks.com

Tickets are now on sale for the Road to Eugene '08 High-Performance Meet

Track and field fans can now buy tickets for Road to Eugene ’08, an elite high-performance meet benefiting the Professional Athletics Association, on Tuesday, August 8, to be held at the University of Oregon's legendary Hayward Field. Tickets are $15 each for reserved seating and $10 each for general admission. They are available at the Casanova Center ticket office, www.goducks.com , and 800-WEBFOOT.

"We want to pack Hayward Field with fans to give the U.S. Junior Team a proper sendoff to Beijing and support the exciting elite athletes who always compete so well in Eugene," says Vin Lananna, co-chairman of the Eugene Local Organizing Committee and University of Oregon associate athletic director/director of track and field. “This meet represents the local organizing committee's commitment to its partnership with USA Track and Field and the Athletes Advisory Committee to provide high-performance meets in the U.S. during the summertime.â€Â