TrackTown organizers hope to seize opportunity, connect youth

By Adam Kopet for DyeStat

When the top athletes from the U.S. and around the world gather in Portland for the World Indoor Championships in March, they won't be the only ones who get a chance to run and compete on the new track.

TrackTown USA, the local organization in charge of hosting both the U.S. and World Indoor Championships, has added four events for middle and high school aged athletes to take place around the championships and the week between them.

 “Our mission all along has always been about what do we do for the next generation,” said Vin Lananna, President of Tracktown USA and the 2016 U.S. Men's Olympic team head coach.

Track and field has always been a participation based sport. In the U.S., the only thing separating a high school athlete from competing at a national championship meet is performance level. However, the success of Team USA on the international stage comes from the strength of numbers in the youth programs around the country.

This is not the first time TrackTown USA has held a youth component to an event it is hosting in order to connect kids to the stars in the sport. On the eve of the 2012 Olympic Trials in Eugene, the organization held the TrackTown Relay, a high school aged marathon relay at Hayward Field. The event brought high school aged athletes from around the state of Oregon to compete on the Hayward Field track just as the top athletes in the country were preparing to use it.

What makes the TrackTown USA youth initiatives unique is that they are not just designed for elite athletes. On March 11 and 12, in conjunction with the U.S. Indoor Championships, the Portland Indoor Track Classic, a re-imagining of an iconic track and field meet in the Northwest, will bring together track and field athletes from Oregon and Washington to compete in six events.

Chris O'Donnell, PITC Meet Director, has made it clear that the meet is not just for the elite high school athletes. While there are entry standards, the goal is to accept athletes from small schools and large schools alike. The meet is not a showcase of the Northwest's top talent, but an opportunity for the wide spectrum of athletes to be feel connected to the World Championship track and to take part in the U.S. Indoor Championships.

However, it is not just high school athletes who will get to take part in TrackTown USA events. On March 15, 500 middle school students, many of whom participate in the Portland Interscholastic League middle school track and field program, will converge on the Oregon Convention Center. There they will watch that day's World Championship Practice Session and meet with high profile athletes.

“The vision was having 10 school buses coming in (from all over the city.)” Lananna said. “We'll have 500 middle school kids who get to run the 60 (meters). They'll watch a practice for the athletes preparing for the World Championships and then they'll get to run a 60 on the same track that the champions will run.”

On March 17, pole vault takes center stage. That night, both men and women will compete at the Oregon Convention Center. Earlier that afternoon and two blocks away at the Moda Center, home of the Portland Trail Blazers, high school and middle school athletes will take part in the Portland Pole Vault Festival. Athletes will get hands on coaching and the chance to vault on one of four runways. Afterward, participants and their families and coaches will be invited to watch the pole vault competitions where the world indoor champions will be crowned.

The final youth event Tracktown USA has planned will take place during the World Championships themselves. Each day, wrapped within the schedule, there will be heats of the boys and girls 4x400 relay. On March 18, teams from Oregon's large schools will compete. On March 19, Oregon's small schools will get their time to shine. On March 20, the final day of the World Championships, there will be invitational sections, featuring the top teams from Oregon and select teams from outside the state.

“Relays are great,” Lananna said. “The key was convincing the IAAF that they should start every session with a kids relay to talk about our future.”

Eighteen teams of boys and girls will compete in front of the World Championships crowd. Teams will be selected by a committee based on performances from the 2015 outdoor season and the 2016 indoor season. The selected teams will be listed on the Tracktown USA website on Feb. 29.

With four youth events organized around the U.S. and World Championships, the hope is that the next generation is inspired and the sport receives a shot in the arm with renewed energy. And, perhaps, the seeds of indoor track and field will take root in the Northwest.

However, even before the World Championship track is set up in the Oregon Convention Center, there is already a sense of satisfaction for Lananna. Speaking at the final High Performance Meet at the House of Track, the temporary home of the World Championship track, he said, “When I walked in here the first day, I saw the little kids taking their phones out and taking pictures. I looked in the stands and I saw the demographics are actually a younger group than I typically see at some of the track meets at Hayward Field. And (in that moment) I think we are kind of mission accomplished.”

The World Indoor Championships will be in the U.S. for the first time since 1987, about the same time that the old Oregon Indoor meet at Memorial Coliseum disappeared from the calendar.

Tracktown USA's youth initiatives may not bring back the 1970s and 80s, but it could re-fresh the area's enthusiasm and excitement for the sport.