ForFusion wrote:
Rankings just came out. Both Men's and Women's team improved upon their previous ranking.
They were voted on Monday before this came out. There was no ability to change rankings for this week.
Coach-athlete sex, rape and PEDs at Huntington University? Nick Johnson scandal gets grimmer thanks to David Woods expose
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EveryoneKnew wrote:
If you look at the track coaches, a number of them are new that came in this season with Coach Roark. The prior coach was either fired or resigned after last season, but he had to have had knowledge of all this. All the coaches listed on the track page who are not new this year need to be gone as well. They were around for all of this and had to have had some knowledge of it all.
I'm aware and don't think Coach Roark or any of the assistants he brought in deserve the ire the rest of HU does. Agree on your other point - when it comes down to it the biggest elephant in the HU athletic department room is that Lauren Johnson knew Nick Johnson had sexual relationships with 2 athletes on the team, she failed to report that information to the university, that information is readily available to the public, and no one that we know of spoke up to the university against her hiring or continued employment. That is a MASSIVE ethical and moral failure.
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evensplit wrote:
hunter wheres the blow wrote:
Do they? My college coach certainly didn’t think I was entitled to being on a team. I get why you would feel the way you do, but there are bigger things going on than running.
It is not my personal belief, or any of my past coaches beliefs, that a person is "entitled to being on a team". I'm not at all saying bigger things aren't going on here, but I think it's important to remember the current members of the team at HU are at the very least collateral damage, if not outright victims (one of which we know of is). Huntington U can still be punished to the most severe degree allowed, while not coming directly after athletes.
I truly believe that the best thing for these young women is shutting the program down and probably sending them home. It certainly doesn’t seem to be what the athletes believe is best given their support of the coaches, but I think this cultlike environment is dangerous, and that the victims will continue to be victims so long as they are associated with this school. They’re also being accused of cheating, so there’s that too.
I understand that this is probably not what will happen, and I’m happy that the university at least appears to be doing something, and that the young women will likely finish out their seasons sans creepy massages and visits to the Johnsons residence, but anything short of shutting the whole thing down is enabling behavior in my personal opinion. But that is to be expected from enablers.
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FutureOldHead wrote:
from my understanding the rankings are done through a coaching poll. huntington did just have a big meet at louisville last weekend where they did very well against other ranked teams. I figure too many balls were already in motion. hopefully something happens soon to limit their ability to compete, the NAIA should look to suspend the program indefinitely. I do feel bad for any athletes who might not have been involved in these scandals, but I don't think it'd be appropriate to allow them to continue competing.
Similar to the NCAA, I'm assuming the NAIA affords schools and athletes some for of due process before a team or athlete can be formally disciplined.
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EveryoneKnew wrote:
ForFusion wrote:
Just to clarify as well, Lauren and Curtis have not been fired. They are currently suspended pending investigation.
Probably to be expected, but just wanted to make sure everyone is aware they have not been "officially" fired.
Do you have any proof of this or is that just what you’re hearing? I haven’t seen a statement anywhere, just the changes to the website
What I've been hearing. Source is a runner at ONU. Probably should've clarified that, but I believe it to be accurate.
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hunter wheres the blow wrote:
Gentleman Savage wrote:
What I don't get is how Lauren Johnson could be okay with housing her husband's side piece(s). Even if she's bi-polar and does beat up on him, that doesn't extend to her going along with this. She has to be severely co-dependent and spineless to even just tolerate it, let alone be complicit in the selection and grooming.
I honestly have no idea about Lauren. She seems to be half victim, half enabler. I don’t really care if she’s a good person or didn’t want any of this or was blindsided by this. Don’t care. Bottom line is that she’s unfit to be a coach for this team or any team so long as she’s associated with Nick. She was powerless to stop him from committing all of these atrocities and even tried to cover for him. If she’s incapable of seeing Nick for what he is, she’s incapable of stopping future abuse from occurring.
And that’s giving her the benefit of the doubt. She could be way worse.
She wasn't powerless to stop him. She chose to do nothing.
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There are connections between them and the Johnson’s. How deep those connections are is the question. If we’re lucky they’re people Nick thought he could control but that’ll turn out to not be the truth.
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.. wrote:
Gentleman Savage wrote:
What I don't get is how Lauren Johnson could be okay with housing her husband's side piece(s). Even if she's bi-polar and does beat up on him, that doesn't extend to her going along with this. She has to be severely co-dependent and spineless to even just tolerate it, let alone be complicit in the selection and grooming.
I'm not a Christian, but I'm shocked how someone so deeply religious could continue to enable someone who goes against all of the principles of Christianity. Anyone with a modicum of common sense and independent thinking would disown Nick as soon as the allegations against him were proven true.
Why are you shocked? Clearly throughout history, being religious has no correlation to being a good person.
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ForFusion wrote:
EveryoneKnew wrote:
Do you have any proof of this or is that just what you’re hearing? I haven’t seen a statement anywhere, just the changes to the website
What I've been hearing. Source is a runner at ONU. Probably should've clarified that, but I believe it to be accurate.
Sources were correct:171 -
constrained wrote:
Similar to the NCAA, I'm assuming the NAIA affords schools and athletes some for of due process before a team or athlete can be formally disciplined.
Has the NAIA ever disciplined a team? I'm googling here and not seeing anything. Cumberland University forfeited some baseball games after self reporting an ineligible player playing.
Having run for an NCAA school in the past, the saying back then was if you don't like the rules go to an NAIA school. I have little faith in the NAIA taking any action.
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I can nearly guarantee those coaches know little. That seems unlikely but I was there, Nick drove a wedge between the cross country team/distance runners and the rest of the track team. So I don’t think the pole vault coach knew. I could always be wrong though.
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ForFusion wrote:
The attorneys hired by the plaintiffs are no joke. I would trust them and their ability to shed even more light on the situation. Like David mentioned this morning during his Fox59 interview, there is clearly evidence that was not shared with him for obvious reasons. I really think we are only scratching the surface here.
Law enforcement should be having private conversations with every HU runner that has ever had contact with Nick, Lauren, and the administration. After reading the original 58 page court filing regarding “victim 1”, it is clear no HU runners were questioned outside those directly involved. Hell, even the 2 athletes that had sexual relations with Nick weren’t questioned (according to the 58 page court document). This cannot happen for the current investigation. Every single athlete must be questioned.
As of right now, it's a civil suit, so law enforcement is not involved. Hopefully that changes and they leave no stone unturned.
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Surprise! wrote:
ForFusion wrote:
The attorneys hired by the plaintiffs are no joke. I would trust them and their ability to shed even more light on the situation. Like David mentioned this morning during his Fox59 interview, there is clearly evidence that was not shared with him for obvious reasons. I really think we are only scratching the surface here.
Law enforcement should be having private conversations with every HU runner that has ever had contact with Nick, Lauren, and the administration. After reading the original 58 page court filing regarding “victim 1”, it is clear no HU runners were questioned outside those directly involved. Hell, even the 2 athletes that had sexual relations with Nick weren’t questioned (according to the 58 page court document). This cannot happen for the current investigation. Every single athlete must be questioned.
As of right now, it's a civil suit, so law enforcement is not involved. Hopefully that changes and they leave no stone unturned.
Good point. That's a mistake I've made and a few others have made here as well. That being said, there are other investigations ongoing besides the civil suit (A quote from the attorneys). Don't know the context of those investigations, but yes I think we all hope no stone is left unturned.
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I hope so, too! For sure.
Given that one of the Plaintiffs filing the lawsuit reported to HPD (multiple times) being raped, and since they already knew of Johnson and his debased predilections (having recently just put him away for some time for similar behavior with Victim1), wouldn't they have gotten involved at that time to preserve the public's safety? I am really surprised (and discouraged) that they would have ignored her given that they already had his texting history, etc. Any ideas?
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I apologize for the double post, but USA Today just picked up the story.
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The university needs to cut ties with anyone who can be found guilty in a criminal case before anything even is agreed in the civil case. From the president and board of trustees to the athletes. Then they can likely settle and try to rebuild and cleanse this cancer from their institution. I was a student there and most professors were likely completely in the dark and are very good people and very good at their jobs. Yes they need some staff overhaul in the higher up positions and athletic programs. But the school can likely find interim leadership that wouldn’t have went along with this if they had known.
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Surprise! wrote:
.. wrote:
I'm not a Christian, but I'm shocked how someone so deeply religious could continue to enable someone who goes against all of the principles of Christianity. Anyone with a modicum of common sense and independent thinking would disown Nick as soon as the allegations against him were proven true.
Why are you shocked? Clearly throughout history, being religious has no correlation to being a good person.
Some of the worst acts in human history were perpetrated in the name of God and some of the most awful people claimed to be religious and pious. Sadly, some use faith as a justification to perform or excuse heinous acts. I would not be surprised if it comes out that Johnson used religion to brainwash, manipulate, or shame his victims into doing his bidding. Likewise, it will not shock me if the institution used "spiritual" counseling and "faith based" methods in an attempt to remedy this tragedy and to keep it quiet. Look at the statements made by university officials in the past two days as this story broke and gathered steam.
As a general life rule, I immediately do not trust anyone that overtly uses religion or religious iconography to introduce themselves, tout their business, or as the foundation of their politics. Leading with, "I'm a Christian!!!" is no different than when a slimy salesman keeps saying, "Trust me!". People of true faith don't loudly advertise it and it isn't their sole defining personality trait.
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Portland Hobby Jogger wrote:
Bethel, and other schools hosting meets, can also make life hard for the HU coaching staff by requiring that they check in with campus security and watch a mandatory sexual harassment education video upon arrival plus sign a document attesting that they will adhere to that institution's policies regarding sexual behavior and student contact. They are also restricted to a 50 foot radius around their team tent while on school grounds, monitored by a member of that school's campus police. Additionally, designate a tent area significantly away from those of other teams.
Until the matter is resolved, schools should openly boycott any meets hosted by HU or demand that HU provide security and athlete escorts to all visiting athletes while they are on the HU campus.
Make sports participation such a pain in the rear for HU that they have no choice but to make changes.
WTF? Why would they do all these passive aggressive weird things? Just say they aren't welcome. If a visiting cross country coach needs to check in with security and watch videos before their team competes, I think it's safe to say they just don't need to be there in the first place.
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Oldrunner89 wrote:
Can you imaging if your co worker slept with 2 of his direct reports and you knew all details. Then it comes to light and the company just says "it's okay you kept secrets. here's a promotion!!"
And then imagine you were married to that person.
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David Woods' article on the coaches being put on leave:
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