UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND CUTS MEN'S INDOOR AND OUTDOOR TRACK TEAMS!

Men's track has zero scholarships, but some members do receive need based aid from the university. Other men's sports are fully funded or nearly fully funded.

It does sadden me to think of the great void this will leave in our sport and our lives. I cannot remember one of the national and international greats from the past or present without thinking of the profound ways that the UR Spider program contributed to his or her success. Wes Santee, Billy Mills, Frank Shorter, Pre, Bill Rodgers, Craig Virgin, Alberto Salazar, Mary Slaney, Lynn Jennings, Suzy Favor Hamilton, Bob Kennedy, Adam Goucher, Kara Goucher, Dathan Ritzenhein, Shalane Flanagan, Jenny Barringer Simpson, Leo Manzano, Matt Centrowitz, and of course Galen Rupp. Can anyone honestly say that any of these would have achieved as much success without the revered Spider Factor? I just wish there were a way to help the powers that be in Richmond to understand how atrocious their decision is and that for the sake of our nation they should reverse it.

OP: you're an ignorant clown.

The school was/will be given $3 million to move lacrosse up to varsity.

Money is coming from a member of the board of trustees

More background from today's Richmond Times-Dispatch.

[some already discussed intro info deleted]

......Once the school supported Division I lacrosse, elimination of a sport, or sports, was necessary, according to UR's strategic plan. It called for utilization of "existing resources" when a task force was formed to examine the mix of varsity and club sports.

"It's not just a money issue," Miller said.

If no sports were cut, "You'd have to add close to 20 reserved admissions spots a year for athletes in lacrosse and (also in a new women's sport added to comply with Title IX)," Miller said. "If you're at a school of 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 or 50,000, it makes no difference. For us, that would be a major and significant issue."

UR's enrollment is 2,950. At least 80 admissions spots in each class of approximately 770 are reserved for student-athletes, according to Miller.

With the addition of a men's sport, Title IX dictated cuts come from the men's side. UR studied baseball and soccer, which works with about eight scholarships. Men's track has no scholarships.

Miller said among the reasons soccer was selected was lack of recent success (one winning season since 2003), comparative contributions from former soccer and baseball players, the school's decision not to build a soccer facility with a grass field, and the challenge of gaining national prominence in soccer, a sport with hundreds of Division I teams. There were 61 Division I men's lacrosse teams last spring.

Baseball's history of success and its dedicated on-campus facility were factors, according to Miller.

Soccer players on scholarship can remain at UR on scholarship until they graduate or for a period equal to their remaining eligibility. Those scholarships gradually will shift to lacrosse. The NCAA limit in the sport is 12.6. The in-progress soccer season will be the Spiders' last.

UR Spider too wrote:

Miller said among the reasons soccer was selected was lack of recent success (one winning season since 2003), comparative contributions from former soccer and baseball players, the school's decision not to build a soccer facility with a grass field, and the challenge of gaining national prominence in soccer, a sport with hundreds of Division I teams. There were 61 Division I men's lacrosse teams last spring.

And what of the comparative contributions from former track athletes? Must be essentially nil.

The track team has struggled to give contributions not because the alumni base doesn't want to, but rather because it knows the money won't go to better the team. The track team has a budget and whatever is donated will be subtracted from the initial budget. That way they get the same amount of money regardless if athletes give. You know where that extra money ends of going? The athletic slush fund, cough football and basketball cough.

We've been trying to figure out ways for years to give money to better the track program, but have been helpless at getting it where it actually needs to go.

Here is a link to a petition showing support of the University of Richmond Track Program

http://signon.org/sign/save-richmond-track

$3,000,000 is maybe 3 or 4 years of expenses. Are the donors going to keep supplying that money?

The athletic director, Jim Miller(

jmiller@richmond.edu

) (804) 289-8694

Secretary to the board of Trustees, Ann Lloyd Breeden (abreeden@richmond.edu)

President, Ed Ayers, (

eayers@richmond.edu

)

The office of the President (

ccaumont@richmond.edu

)

Here is the contact information for the people in charge and need to be told how this is wrong. Email them and give them your opinion.

Wow without running how LAX wouldn't be a fun sport to watch....would it. Just a bunch of stationary guys throwing a ball around!

It's title IX. one way or another. It's always title IX

Mickylove wrote:

It's title IX. one way or another. It's always title IX

No it isn't. Lacrosse players are more apt to be full pay students than track/field. Universities are a business - the lacrosse players provide more money not just in the present, but because they tend to come from wealthier families, provide long term financial support to the school as alums.

That's total bullshit. That has nothing to do with this decision, and you pulled the stat out of your butt.

Universities are a business

They're supposed to be A LOT more than "a business"! Sure they need to balance the books, but this obsession with generating revenue through the athletic departments at these mid-major universities is a disturbing trend.

Moreover, have you ever looked at how the dynamics of the student body radically changes with the addition of a men's lacrosse team? These guys make football players look like true scholars and gentlemen (a.k.a. distance runners). Richmond is going to chase its own tail on all this and I can almost guarantee some dark days are ahead on this campus...whether it becomes public knowledge or not...there is going to be some bad karma from this irresponsible decision.

It's all starting with a sense of entitlement with how this decision obviously took place. Wait until that attitude lines up with initiation/hazing and stellar "leadership" a weekend parties. THEN we'll see how those "personal aspirations" turn out. I hope I am wrong, but have witnessed the hurried addition of varsity men's lacrosse first-hand. It wasn't pretty to the campus culture.

are you sure? wrote:

UR Mom wrote:

The Mens Track & Field/CC teams have zero, zip, none, zilch scholarships!

Are you saying ALL the runners on these teams are 100% FULL PAY students? Or are you saying none get any ATHLETIC scholarships? Big difference.

If you are saying the latter, how does that stack up against other UR teams? You can't just post what sounds like a complaint about a lack of scholarships without any context about how UR treats other teams. If MT&F/CC don't get any athletic scholarships but other teams are in the same boat it's a lot different than if MT&F/CC aren't getting any athletic scholarships and every other sport is fully (or nearly fully) funded.

No ATHLETIC scholarships for the men's T & F team. No one is talking about need based financial aid. I don't know the numbers but I do know that other teams have ATHLETIC scholarships!

Runners tend to be cheap. Therefore runners don't donate money to fund track and XC programs. Therefore track and XC programs get cut.

Almost no one at my alma matter cares about ice hockey, yet my alma matter is currently building an ice hockey arena that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Why are they building an ice hockey arena that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars? Because a wealthy alum is paying for it.

If you want your track team to survive, put some money into it. I bet the Richmond T&F team would be brought back if some generous donor offered a similar deal.

...to cut men's indoor/outdoor T&F and men's soccer to make room for men's lacrosse thereby crushing the souls of a few truly good men.

from today's NCAA News...

"The University of Richmond invites nominations and applications for the position of Director of Athletics..."

Good riddance. Going to be a Blue Hen to follow in the footsteps of another crusher of souls? Birds of a feather flock together.