Proposals have been submitted, locations have been narrowed and final presentations have been made; now it’s time for the decision.

The verdict?

The Track & Field trials for the 2008 Olympics are returning to Oregon.

Despite a much smaller fan capacity, Hayward Field at the University of Oregon, which was the last location to host three consecutive Olympics trials, will host its fourth trials since 1972, it was announced Friday by USA Track & Field officials in Indianapolis.

“The general sentiment would be extremely disappointed both for the city of Sacramento and the campus,” said Ric Brown, university provost and vice president of academic affairs. “The trials brought the campus good, positive publicity.

“We know we have a top facility we have a top track. Its just unfortunate that the committee chose another way.”

Eugene beat out Sacramento in the final vote with the help of its rich track tradition. In addition to hosting numerous trials, Hayward Field annually hosts the Prefontaine Classic and is considered by many to be a landmark track and field location similar to the way Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park is to baseball.

Among the problems that Hayward Field officials will be facing is how athletes, officials and fans will be able to get to Eugene and finding places for them to stay.

With few hotels nearby and only a handful of flights arriving in Eugene, many people may be forced to fly to Portland and make the nearly two-hour drive to Hayward Field.

Despite being able to hold more than twice the amount of spectators as Eugene, Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium was unable to secure the third consecutive bid for Sacramento, which hosted the 2000 and 2004 trials.

Other finalists for the trials that were eliminated on Sept. 20, narrowing the search to the two final cities, included Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and the Home Depot Center in Carson, which is near Los Angeles. Neither of their facilities can accommodate more than 10,000 spectators.

The 2008 Olympics trials are scheduled to be held over a 10-day period from June 26 to July 6, 2008. Athletes who qualify would then participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Tyler Stalker can be reached at [email protected]