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I am hoping to head to the University of Oregon for the Division 1 NCAA championships this year, but I'm not sure which section to buy tickets for...section N is general admission and section O is reserved. I don't mind paying more for tickets, but I don't know what the real difference between the sections is other than price. Does anyone know which runway(s) they will use, or have any recommendations for the best view of the pole vault? I would much appreciate any insight. Thanks!

I went through this site to see the seating chart: http://www.ncaa.com/championships/track ... d1/tickets

Men's PV Final is 4:00 PM Wed June 11, and Women's PV Final is 3:15 PM Fri June 13.

If you want a guaranteed good seat down low (best camera angle), I would opt for Section O, as low down as possible. This would be best (compromise) seating for EITHER runway direction. But if left-to-right, the bottom-right corner of Section P might be better, and if right-to-left, the bottom-middle of Section O might be better.

I'm guessing that the pits closest to the track (in either direction) are the prime pits. Is this correct? I'm also assuming that the chart is accurate and to scale - which might not be quite true. You would have to physically go there to verify the precise alignment of pits to seating sections. Or can someone that's already done that please tell us? EDIT: My satellite photo below answers this question.

Since you can't predict the wind direction 100% until the day of the meet, one option might be to reserve in Section P, but just walk into the General Admission Section N if it's the right-to-left runway being used (and if the ushers will allow that). However, the left side of Section N will put you a few feet further up the runway than the ideal camera angle.

Kirk

I find the directions at Hayward Field confusing, so here's a satellite photo (guaranteed to be more accurate than the chart) that might clear this up a bit.



Like most maps, North is at the top. I've added the 6 East Grandstand Section borders and letters to this photo, which gives us a fairly precise alignment to the location of the pits. Notice that there are 2 pits (each with a big U. Oregon "O"), and each of them has front aprons in either direction (a green one and a yellow one). This saves a lot of time when the wind dictates a change in runways just before the event starts.

Re what's East and what's West ...

It's the EAST grandstands that you watch PV from (you can see its white and grey roof), and it is (naturally) on the East side of the track. But the Specifications page of the UO website (http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205176615) refers to the West PV Runway and the East PV Runway (each 160' long and 4' wide).

So that must be referring to the East Runway as being the one closest to the track, and the West Runway being the one closer to the middle of the field? What's confusing is that there's actually 4 runways - the left-to-right (South to North) runways, and the right-to-left (North to South) runways (when seated in the East Grandstands).

Looking at this photo (rather than the UO seating chart), the bottom-left of Section O is the best (compromised) seating position - for either runway direction (and assuming that the East-most pit will be used).

Kirk

If the weather is nice the wind will come from the north. If it's cloudy and rainy it will usually come from the south. Sometimes it just swirls.
I'm sure we will use the pit closest to the track, (the east pit)
The safest bet for a good seat in any conditions would be section O
Hope that helps