8th Ranked West Region Steepler (Jordan Macintosh - Portland State) DQ’d From NCAAs Due To Coach's Mistake

40 man roster is not true, the team was down to about 15 eligible men to compete, and was using football players as stand-in sprinters to hit the 15 number. No one doubled back from conference, it was in another state. The Big Sky conference is one of the most competitive distance conferences in the NCAA, let alone it was at elevation (all of Big sky except PSU and Sac State compete at elevation) so the coaches did not want their athletes to be lapped or embarrassed at conference. So many men were injured, quit, or unable to compete for various other reasons. A website with roster photos doesn’t say all.

It’s crazy how misinformed people are…

the school is punished/fined!!!!

Schools get about 40k to “sponsor a sport” in this case meet the minimum requirement of meets with the designated number of athletes… if they don’t meet those requirements they don’t get the 40k from the NCAA and unfortunately their kid is also not eligible, you can be assured their admin is not happy about losing 40k, the coach may get fired but this also may not be a coaching issue, it could be a compliance office issue.

For those downvoting: I hope you're not doing it based on the numbers, as the math checks out here.

The NCAA Sport Sponsorship Revenue Distribution Fund for DI is ~$76 million. There are ~6,700 total sponsored sports in NCAA DI, spanning across ~350 schools. The distribution fund is only for those sports that go beyond the NCAA DI minimum (14). Taking out the 14 required sports for those 350 programs, we are left with ~1,800 "additional" programs. Those are the ~1,800 programs that receive a piece of the fund. $76 million divided by 1,800 is ~$42,000.

Portland State sponsors 15 sports. Unfortunately for PSU, indoor and outdoor track count separately, so this error drops them to 13 (below the DI minimum). There is the issue of Jordan not being able to run at NCAAs. There is the issue of the aforementioned ~$40,000. But there is also now the issue of the department's failure to meet the DI minimum of 14 sponsored sports.

So what does this mean? In short nothing...unless PSU fails again next year. For now, the department will be in a one-year probation, with stricter punishments coming (including postseason ineligibility) if 2023-24 goes awry.

From the NCAA Manual:

20.2.5.1.2 Failure to Meet Minimum Sports Sponsorship Criteria.
20.2.5.1.2.1 One-Year Probationary Period. An institution that fails to meet either the minimum men's or women' sports sponsorship criterion for its division shall be placed on probation for one year for its entire program(both men's and women's sports) in the next academic year after noncompliance with sports sponsorship requirements is discovered. An institution shall be afforded the one-year probationary period for failure to comply with sports sponsorship criteria only once in every 10-year period. The 10-year period shall begin the September 1following completion of the academic year in which the membership criterion is not met. (Revised: 1/11/89)

20.2.5.1.2.2 Application of Restricted Membership Status. If an institution fails to meet the sports sponsorship criteria at the end of the probationary year or is ineligible for the once-in-10-year probationary period, it shall be placed in restricted membership and shall not be eligible for NCAA championship competition in all sports (both men's and women's) in the first academic year after the probationary year (or the first academic year after failure to meet the requirements if the institution is ineligible for the once-in-10-year probationary period). If the institution still cannot certify compliance with the division criteria at the end of that year, it shall forfeit its membership in the Association. (Revised: 1/11/89, 1/15/11 effective 8/1/11)

Stan State didn't get help when Sacramento State canceled two meets shortly before they were scheduled. Teams had to scramble to find pop up meets at places like Fresno State.

Nobody feels bad for the school.

This is obviously a tough situation for all involved, most notably the student-athlete. I feel terribly for him. That part has been thoroughly discussed here.

And there has been plenty of animosity towards the coaching staff, some of it fair and some of it not. No need to pile on here.

What has not been touched on enough is how deep-rooted this issue is. It goes beyond the coaching staff. A few years ago, the administration at PSU made a decision to go with an all-distance model for track and field. They are obviously not unique in that decision. Right, wrong, or indifferent, many track and field programs go this route. What makes PSU unique is that it was an administrative decision, not a coaching one. Surely, the genesis of this move was budget related (fewer coaches, less equipment, etc.).

Whatever your opinion about this philosophy, there's no question that it makes it more difficult to sponsor the sport of track and field. You're taking a 21-event sport and reducing it to 5. Getting 14 athletes to compete in 8 different meets becomes more challenging.

All I'm saying is this: Let's put our rocks down for a moment and understand that this problem goes deeper than simply saying "FIRE THE COACHES!" Much of this is above their paygrade. Should the coaches have done better? Sure. And they would say the same thing. But there are systemic issues at play here and the solution is far more complex than what has been offered on these boards.

bruh what, seriously injured, where are you getting your info from as if you know anything about the team or athlete? let them post whatever the fk they want, anyone who knows anything about Stan State knows those runners love that program and their coaches and they have seen a lot success in the last few years outside of the mistake made in the spring, so if one of them wants to post a TT about their good experience who tf cares, nobody is “spinning” anything, can someone not post about something they enjoy anymore Without it being full of secret hidden messages that are meant to be interpreted as a cry for help? Like wtf has the world come to?

The Portland situation seemed to be rooted in deep issues that have been swept under the rug for years (as many of their athletes surfaced in light of the situation). Stan athletes didn’t step forward and do the same because THEY HAVE NOTHING NEGATIVE TO SURFACE. the Stan situation was a completely different set of circumstances that happened to result in a similar outcome, but I can guarantee there’s no bad culture or “spinning” going on there so why people are trying to immediately assume and imply these crazy bad things when they have no clue what actually happened is wild. Just because that’s how things were at Portland doesn’t mean that’s how they were or are at Stan.

As for the athlete that you are implying was forced to run while “seriously injured”, unless you know her and the situation maybe don’t comment, she specifically has been a huge advocate in their program’s turnaround and success in recent years. Go look at what she’s done for them running wise. she HAD been injured during the cross season and had taken time off as a result so was simply out of shape at the start of outdoor but doing HELLA elliptical. those coaches hoped to have her back in decent shape and competing by mid track season, but asked her if she was willing to run a race or two in Feb despite being so out of shape, they explained to her why, and she agreed because she wanted to help her team, that is how she is. she ran the one race you are referring to, didn’t complain, and then tested positive for mono shortly after which is why she did not race the rest of track. She got her track season back. She could run anywhere in the country but chose to stay there for grad school to use that season she got back.

source: I was her teammate and roommate at SMC in the past. She left SMC to go run at Stan because she believed so much in the training there and in my opinion she made a good decision and her leaving forced some needed change at SMC as she was our #1 runner before she left. SMC is now connected to Stan because of her, many of us still talk to her all the time and she comes to watch us race still. we know enough about the Stan situation over here in the bay to know that most of these takes are completely wrong

You people need to get off your high horses and stop pretending like you know anything about a situation or program or athlete unless you are directly involved / apart of it.