EUGENE - 4/19/07 - With just one week until the 4th annual XO Invite storms Hayward Field, the biggest high school invite in the Northwest begins to rear it’s head as some final details are cemented into place.

Following tradition, XO will highlight locals band that will provide entertainment during the official’s break and several of the distance races. XO is fortunate this year to have Natural Progression and Green is for Go as our guest bands. Natural Progression is relatively new group on the scene, NP was started in the fall of ’05 and their unique blend of hip hop, jazz, and rock attracts a huge following wherever they perform. We are especially excited about Green is for Go this year, as they always provided an awesome atmosphere, blending high energy music with a very unique sound. Green is for Go's lead singer played for the XO Invite last year and was exactly what we were looking for!

A grand welcome goes to what will hopefully be the start of a new XO tradition. Five schools from our northern neighbor will be battling for what is becoming the most coveted trophy in the northwest. Camas, Capital, Centralia, Curtis, and Lewis & Clark will all be making trips from Washington to vie for the coed championship.

XO is very excited to unveil a new schedule at this year’s meet. In an attempt to draw even more fan support from a town already addicted to Hayward Field, XO has created a brand new High Performance section that will feature only “A” sections of races during the second half of the meet. This condenses the highest quality of the fields into a shorter time slot where most of the meet’s points will be scored. The teams will enjoy racking up points in a rapid succession, and the fans will enjoy a fast-paced high energy meet peppered with live band music and African drums pounding away during the several of the later events under the brand new lights installed for the 2008 Olympic Trials!

If you plan to be in town for the weekend, remember to stop by Hayward to cheer on the start of the first annual Eugene Marathon. The marathon course snakes its way around Eugene and part of Springfield finding its way from Hayward to Autzen Stadium and will include over 4000 participants in this year’s field, some of whom will by aiming for Olympic Trials qualifying marks!

A brief reminder that the entry deadline for individuals is Monday, April 23rd at 11:00pm through athletic.net. Coaches must submit entries in time so that we can finalize fields for the High Performance sections as early as possible.

Lastly, OregonLive.com will be webcasting a blog throughout the meet at http://blog.oregonlive.com/runoregon/. Team XO thanks all participating schools, athletes, and coaches for the energy and commitment you bring to the track and field and looks forward to another memorable meet on the 28th!