University of Oregon track & field head coach Robert Johnson and horizontal jumpers Lexi Ellis, Rhesa Foster, and Isaiah Griffith will headline the next TrackTown Tuesday on March 3 at the Downtown Athletic Club.

Also featured will be Oregon Track Club Elite newcomer and 1,500m specialist Will Paulson. In addition, the show will highlight UO School of Journalism and Communication instructor Lori Shontz. TrackTown USA CEO Michael Reilly will give an update on 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials tickets and volunteering. Sasha Spencer Atwood, Director of Athletes & Teams Experience at Oregon21, will reprise her role as emcee.

The popular town hall meetings are free and open to the public. Doors open at 6 p.m. for a social hour, followed by the one-hour show at 7 p.m. The Emerald Media Group’s coffee table book “Hayward Field: Legends and Legacy” will be available for pre-order during the social hour and after the show. Two tickets to the opening day of the 2020 Olympic Trials will be raffled off during the show.

Johnson is in his 8th season as UO head coach. During his tenure, he has led the Ducks to 13 NCAA team titles. By winning the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Johnson and the Women of Oregon completed the historic Triple Crown – NCAA titles in cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field in the same academic year.

Ellis recently leapt to a personal best of 13.56m (44-6) in the triple jump. The sophomore now stands 2nd on the all-time UO indoor list in that event. Ellis was a two-time champion in the triple jump at the Washington 4A State Championships.

Foster, a senior, soared to a personal best of 6.57m (21-6.75) in the long jump on Feb. 14, putting her at #2 on the all-time UO indoor list. Foster is a two-time Pac-12 long jump champion; she also placed 5th at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships and 7th at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Griffith, a redshirt junior, owns a personal best of 16.68m (54-8.75) in the triple jump, a mark he set to win the 2019 NJCAA Outdoor Championship title as a student-athlete at South Plains College prior to transferring to Oregon. He currently sits at #2 on the all-time Oregon indoor list in that event.

Paulson has a personal best of 3:36.86 in the 1,500m and he represents Canada in international competition. He was a student-athlete at both Princeton University and Arizona State University. During the 2019 outdoor season, Paulson was the Pac-12 champion, the Canadian national champion, and the bronze medalist at the Pan American Championships in the 1,500m.

Shontz has more than two decades of experience as a writer and editor specializing in sports, women’s issues, and higher education. She pulls from her background as a sports journalist to teach a wide variety of classes, including an advanced sports beat reporting course in which students exclusively cover track and field. Her students’ work has been published in more than 30 professional publications since 2015.$5 appetizers from the DAC and $3 beer from Hop Valley Brewing Company will be available for purchase. After 5 p.m., free parking is available in the adjacent Overpark. For those attendees who experienced problems leaving the parking garage after last month’s show, please know that the issues with the parking system have been resolved. The City of Eugene shares this update:

The City of Eugene has recently modernized its gate arm equipment in the Overpark Garage. If you are arriving after 5:00, parking is free. Please take a ticket from the entrance machine, save it, and scan the entrance ticket at either gate on your way out. If you arrive before 5:00, then please follow the same process and pay with credit card on your way out.