Millersville University has announced its plans to cut the men’s cross-country and men’s indoor and outdoor track and field teams.
Budget cuts have forced the school to decrease spending on athletics. This cut will save the school $200,000.
MU hopes that this will help to strengthen existing teams and ensure a stable financial future for the athletic department.
The school decided that as of July 1, it will go from supporting 22 intercollegiate teams to 19, and sadly all three teams are the track and cross-country teams.
The track and field team has been in existence for 52 years. Cutting the program is thought of by many as ending a legacy.
Thirty men participate in these programs and now have to consider the possibility of transferring.
These men are not just losing their sport though; they are losing friendships, opportunities and livelihood.
The dynamics of a track and field program is different from most sports.
While some may see this as just taking away a team, others see it as tearing apart a family.
“In track and field, the women’s and men’s teams thrive off of and depend on oneanother. This means that taking away one team will also have an impact on the other,” said Bill Morgal, Shippensburg University’s Sports Information Director.
At the PSAC Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 25., other schools showed up wearing yellow shirts and ribbons to support MU in their fight to save their team.
Even though MU may be an opponent, at the end of the day teams just want to compete, and losing an opponent is sad to see.
The men’s track team will finish its outdoor season before bringing the program to an end for good.
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