Good News/Bad News Regarding Track and Field Program Cuts

Just hours after William & Mary announced that the men's track and field team was being reinstated, Clemson had some bad news for its men's team

Folks, it’s been a week filled with uncertainty, anxiety, fear and sometimes hope. I tried to do my best to avoid scrolling through too much Twitter for election updates and found some time to also get outdoors and escape on the run for at least 30 to 60 minutes since Tuesday. If you haven’t done so, I recommend it. 

I was a bit hesitant about putting out a newsletter this week because there’s so much more important news going on in the world but I figured this could also serve as a quick escape from your own political and news consumption for the day. 

We had our fair share of followers (or now former followers) telling us to “stick to running” but we won’t. We recommend reading this piece by Women’s Running and Erin Strout because that line between sports or running and politics doesn’t exist. Also...it was pretty cool to see President-elect Joe Biden’s Election Day video to use the same song that we use for the CITIUS MAG Podcast.

So here we go with some of the sport’s biggest headlines and stories…

William & Mary Reinstates Men’s Track and Field

Marty O’Brien of The Virginian-Pilot reported that William & Mary has decided to reverse course on its September decision to cut seven sports including men’s indoor and outdoor track and field. Alums have been very vocal on social media about applying pressure to the administration. I think a lot of credit also has to be given to the women’s team after they shared a letter on Oct. 25 that said they wouldn’t represent the school until the men’s team was reinstated.

Clemson Cuts Men’s Track and Field

Just hours after that good news happened...Clemson’s athletic director Dan Radakovich announced that men’s track and field will be cut to save $2-million plus to address a projected resource shortfall of $25 million this year. Yes, this is the same school that pays head football coach Dabo Swinney more than $9 million per season and opened a $55 million football complex. Again, we’re seeing a case of an athletic department’s mismanagement of funds and cutting track being used as an out. 

Another part of the announcement that stood out to me was: “In our long-term planning, we looked at the changing demographics of the Clemson campus. Of Clemson’s men’s  sports, only men’s track and field and cross country could provide the Department with both substantial cost savings  as well as the ability for long-term Title IX compliance.” 

A friend of mine later texted me saying that by his count he determined the following from Clemson’s men’s non-revenue sports: 20 Black track athletes, 8 Black soccer players, 2 Black baseball players, 1 Black cross country runner, 0 Black tennis players, 0 Black golfers. So that means 21 of 31 Black athletes in these sports have been cut with the elimination of men’s track and field and cross country.

Just shameful. Friend of the pod Russell Dinkins (whose work recently has been to help save track and field programs) appears to be on the case as he’s already helped the Tigers organize their first meeting with alums.

Molly Huddle Breaks Three American Records

At a very low key meet, Molly Huddle set the American record for the one-hour run by covering 17,930 meters on the track. She beat the previous American record of 12,273 meters by Nancy Conz, which stood since June 25, 1981. Huddle averaged 5:23/mi pace for 44.8 laps. We first learned that Huddle was going to do this when it was mentioned on the CITIUS MAG Instagram live of the Labor Day Showdown in Massachusetts but she kept it low key and a small meet was held just outside of Boston for her to attempt it. She delivered and also broke the American record in the 15,000 meters (50:07.82) and 10-mile (53:50).

Dr. Fauci on Sports Events in 2021

In last week’s edition of the newsletter, I noted how all of the World Marathon Majors have been pushed back to Fall 2021. In a YouTube interview with the NIH, Dr. Anthony Fauci said: “I can foresee that, even with a good vaccine, that mask-wearing will continue well into the third or fourth quarter of 2021.” He also noted how ‘sports events will then have spectators, very likely in graded amounts with regard to capacity.” So tough to envision with the start of something like a Major Marathon looks like next fall. Is everyone wearing a mask all the way up until the start and then tossing them into containers like throwaway layers?

Happy Trails to Ken Goe!

There may have been a time when you’ve come across an article from OregonLive or The Oregonian and it was likely written by Ken Goe. This week, he penned his final piece for them after 43 years of sports coverage. I’ll always appreciate the fact that he took the time to respond to an email I wrote him back in 2012 when I was just getting my start covering the sport and I was looking for any advice. Ken was always one to share other people’s work and I thank him for that as well. He’s a fixture in the mixed zone at Hayward Field, so next summer’s U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials might have a different feel without him.

Eliud Kipchoge Documentary In the Works

A new Eliud Kipchoge documentary coming in 2021? Yes, please. Variety reports that a film is being shopped around and involves Gladiator director Ridley Scott as a producer. The tease for it says it will feature unprecedented access to Kipchoge ahead of his sub-two hour run at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge. This one will have a high bar to follow after National Geographic did a really good job with its Breaking2 documentary. That one is currently available to stream on Disney+. 

Speaking of Breaking2...The Journal of Applied Physiology published its lab and testing data from the finalists that were selected to participate in Nike’s 2018 optimized attempt before it was narrowed down to Kipchoge, Zersenay Tadese and Lelisa Desisa. Outside’s Alex Hutchinson broke down some of the key findings.

Kudos to the CITIUS MAG Fam Working In Politics

Ammar Moussa, the former Colorado Buffalo cross country runner and an early contributor to CITIUS, has been working on John Hickenlooper’s campaign as a press secretary. The former governor and mayor of Denver defeated Cory Gardner on Election Night to flip that Senate seat for the Democrats.

Everyone has been waiting on pins and needles for Nevada’s election results, especially our own Kevin Liao, who is Vice President Joe Biden’s Nevada Communications Director. As I’m writing this on Friday morning, Biden increased his lead to 1.6 percentage points over President Donald Trump and inches closer to the presidency.

Podcast Palooza

“We’re in a sport that lives on numbers. So how do you get people to connect with the athletes when they don’t understand the performances that are going on on the track or in the field? I work with athletes on storytelling things and how they can communicate their stories better whether that is through other journalists, through their own social media channels or whatever avenues they want to explore then that can only be good for the sport.”

More Than Running with Dana Giordano returns for a second season and we’re kicking it off with Michelle Sammet. Michelle has been a friend of mine for about five or six years and she’s one of the passionate people about growing the sport and amplifying athlete voices. Dana does an excellent job of sharing Michelle’s story of how she got her start participating in the sport, covering it and where she’d like to see the industry change and do better.

Subscribe and listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Anchor.

– Last week, we dumped three episodes of the CITIUS MAG Podcast so plenty for you to catch up on. We had our episode with Brian Schroy, our long-awaited track and field news catch up with Matt Meyer and a bonus episode with Galen Rupp after he set the American record in the 10-mile.

– On Social Sport, Emma Zimmerman chats with Yuki Hebner, who ran at Wesleyan University and opens up about a toxic team culture where injuries, body shaming, and eating disorders were rampant.

– On Run Your Mouth, David Melly had District Track Club’s Willy Fink, Jacob Dumford and coach Tom Brumlik on to discuss their team and whether Ohio is “The Miler State '' since so many prominent middle-distance runners have come out of that state.

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That’s all from me this week in the newsletter. Pass it along to a friend. Feel free to hit me up with any comments, questions, feedback or interesting stories to share.

Go outside. Get some fresh air.

✌️ Chris Chavez