Sacramento on new course as track events relocate

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http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/591673.html

Sacramento on new course as track events relocate
NCAA women's rowing and basketball fill a hole left by the Olympic Trials.
By John Schumacher - jschumacher@sacbee.com
Published 12:19 am PST Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1

Stanford's Arianna Lambie, left, and North Carolina's Brie Felnagle compete in the 1,500 meters during the NCAA track championships at Hornet Stadium in June.
Randy Pench / Sacramento Bee file, 2007

Pass the baton to Eugene. And wonder if the stick will come around again.

USA Track & Field's decision earlier this month to award the 2012 Olympic Trials to Eugene – a decision made before the Oregon city hosts the 2008 event – as well as the '09 and '11 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships has left Sacramento out in the cold.

But Sacramento – the host of successful U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in 2000 and '04 and the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in '03, '05, '06 and '07 – is diversifying its approach to bring other sporting events to town.


The Sacramento Sports Commission, fresh off a year that included hosting first- and second-round games of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and the NCAA Women's Volleyball Final Four, still has some track on its upcoming menu. But it also has landed or is pursuing several other noteworthy events.

The Tour of California bicycle race is set to return in 2008. The NCAA Women's Rowing Championships are headed here next year. And the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament West Regional is on the books for 2010.

John McCasey, the Sacramento Sports Commission's executive director, said his group was close to a deal to bring the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Men's Championships to town in 2009 and '13.

As for track, Sacramento landed the 2010 USA Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the '11 World Masters Athletics Championships – an event that is projected to pump $14 million into the local economy.

McCasey said when he put in Sacramento's bid for the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships for 2009, '10 and '11, he "smelled something foul."

"We didn't have a real good feel for it," he said. "We backed ourselves up. We went after other events. We've got a real good stable of events we'll be bringing in over those years.

"I don't think stepping away from track is a step backwards at all. … There was some concern maybe we were too dependent on track. It's what we were doing, and doing it frequently and doing it well."

Still, losing all those big meets to Eugene, and the 2010 USA Outdoor Championships to Des Moines, Iowa, stings a bit. Especially after the NCAA, which awarded four of its past five outdoor track and field championships to Sacramento, opted in August 2006 to award its 2008 through '10 outdoor championships to Des Moines, Fayetteville, Ark., and Eugene.

Sacramento was awarded the 2004 Olympic Trials after drawing rave reviews for hosting the 2000 event, which averaged 23,338 spectators for the eight-day meet. But Eugene was given another Trials before hosting the 2008 meet next summer, and without a bid process.

Instead, Eugene officials, with Nike's financial backing, cut a deal with USA Track & Field to bring all those big meets to Oregon.

"I think that surprised everybody," McCasey said. "Obviously they put one hell of a deal in place for them to do this."

Craig Masback, USA Track & Field's chief executive officer, said Eugene officials came forward with a proposal to host the 2012 Olympic Trials and the '09 and '11 USA Outdoor Championships. USATF responded with a counterproposal, which Masback said Eugene accepted.

"That's what happened, plain and simple," Masback said. "We're thrilled with the decision and outcome."

Masback praised Eugene's commitment to track and field – the city hosted the Olympic Trials in 1972, '76 and '80, the USA Outdoor Championships in 1999 and 2001, and the Prefontaine Classic for 33 years – noting ticket packages sold out months ago and there is "a buzz in the air" about the Trials.

He also said Sacramento would be in the running for future events.

"I don't think it's lacking anything," Masback said.

John Mansoor, the California International Marathon race director and the director of meet operations for the NCAA meets here, said giving Eugene a second consecutive Trials before holding the 2008 event raised some questions.

"We were very disappointed that the 2012 Trials have been awarded to Eugene and they have not conducted the 2008 Trials," he said. "It's one thing to have the money to be able to do these things. … The other thing is, can you stage the event successfully?

"There's a lot of us who are not convinced that Eugene can pull this off."

Mansoor, who also is a regional director for USA Track & Field, said there's a cyclical nature to where big meets are held.

"If you look at the last seven years, all the big meets were in Sacramento," he said. "What happens is generally they find a place that works, they like to stay there.

"Then you stay there for a while, then the rest of the country begins to complain about it – 'They're not moving this stuff around' – and they kind of look at other alternatives to it."

McCasey said he would be open to going after the NCAA track championships again after the masters meets are held here in 2010 and '11.

"I see us back in the NCAA track business," he said. "I can see us bringing that one back. … The gamesmanship and the politics isn't there, or the money."