Ducks to Host 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships

Hayward Field will host the four-day event, Wed.-Sat., June 9th-12th, 2010 – the 10th time it has welcomed the event since 1962, the most of any venue in modern history.

Photo courtesy: goducks.com

EUGENE - The University of Oregon has been selected to host the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the NCAA announced Thursday.

Hayward Field will host the four-day event, Wed.-Sat., June 9th-12th, 2010 – the 10th time it has welcomed the event since 1962, and most of any venue in modern history.

"The University of Oregon is thrilled to be selected to host the 2010 NCAA Track and Field Championships at historic Hayward Field,” Oregon director of athletics Bill Moos. “Like securing the 2008 Olympic Trials, this is a tribute to the people within Oregon athletics and throughout the community who are dedicated to preserving the title of ‘Track Town USA’ for the city of Eugene.”

Hayward Field (capacity: 10,500) entertained its last NCAA Championships in 2001 after it staged previous events in 1962, 1964, 1972, 1978, 1984, 1988, 1991 and 1996.

Named after former legendary men’s track and field head coach Bill Hayward, the venue also looks forward to a host of other top American events in the near future.

The NCAA West Regional Championships return in 2007 for the second time in three years, followed by the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials – the fourth held in Eugene after it staged meets in 1972, ’76 and ‘80.

"It will be exciting to welcome back the NCAA coaches and athletes to the University of Oregon and Hayward Field,” Oregon associate athletic director and director of track and field Vin Lananna said. “We are humbled by this wonderful news, and we are confident that the University of Oregon and this entire community will continue its long tradition of providing a memorable experience for the student-athletes that compete in the championships."

The NCAA committee also announced that NCAA Outdoor Championships were awarded to Drake University (2008) and the University of Arkansas (2009).

Other championships sites revealed Thursday included the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships - awarded to Indiana State University, and the 2008-10 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships - awarded to the University of Arkansas (2008, ’10) and Texas A&M University (2009).

"It will be the first time that the University of Oregon hosts the NCAA Championships with the increased field sizes (that were nearly doubled in 2003),” Lananna said, “and Hayward Field will provide a perfect setting for the student-athletes. We look forward to welcoming them with a historic facility, an enthusiastic crowd, and a community committed to the sport of track and field."

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