SeattleU pulls the plug on men's and women's indoor track & field...
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| Seattle University will transition to a distance-only program, and discontinue its men's and women's indoor track & field teams at the end of the 2024-25 school year. (Paul Merca photo) |
SEATTLE--The hits keep coming for Seattle University.
The school announced in a news release Thursday that it will discontinue its men's and women's indoor track & field programs, along with men's tennis at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Additionally, sprints, jumps and throws in outdoor track will be phased out as student athletes who compete in these events exhaust their eligibility. The men's and women's cross country and outdoor track programs will continue, albeit as a distance-only program, in a model similar to what Gonzaga and Portland run with their squads.
In the release, SeattleU president Eduardo Peñalver and athletic director Shaney Fink wrote: "This year of transition has been marked by thoughtful reflection and difficult choices. Amid the ongoing changes in the intercollegiate sports landscape, as well as our commitment to strategically align resources with our greatest priorities, SU Athletics has conducted a comprehensive review to ensure we are best positioned to support our student athletes and sustain competitive excellence for years to come."
"We want to emphasize our concern for the student athletes affected by these changes. Their dedication, grace, and integrity have brought pride to our university, and we are deeply grateful for their contributions. We intend to provide individualized support to help those affected navigate this transition, whether they choose to continue their athletic careers elsewhere or remain at Seattle University."
It remains to be seen how the school navigates through the roster limits imposed by the NCAA starting in the 2025-26 academic year of 17 athletes maximum in cross country, and 45 in track and field.
That said, the West Coast Conference, which SeattleU is joining in the 2025-26 season, does not sponsor indoor or outdoor track & field. Gonzaga's distance runners do compete indoors, but do not compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, which Portland does.
In the spring, both Gonzaga and Portland do compete in outdoor track, but competes as independents.
Since moving up to Division I in 2012, Seattle University remains the only Washington Division I program to never advance an individual to either the NCAA cross country, indoor, or outdoor track championships.
In fact, the closest that anyone from that school has sniffed the NCAA championships in track came in Dylan Burnett in the javelin in 2013 & 14, and Shaddye Melu in the high jump in 2015. Those two only got as far as the West Preliminary round, and not to the national finals.
Since the 2021 outdoor season, Seattle University's men's team have consistently finished near the bottom in the Western Athletic Conference in outdoor (6th, 10th, 11th & 10th); indoor (9th in '22, '23 & '24); and cross country (12th in '21 & '22, 11th in '23, and 9th this season)
On the women's side, the Redhawks nearly mirror the men's program in outdoor track, finishing 7th in '21, 10th in '22, 13th in '23, and 11th in '24.
Indoors, they've been eleventh the last three seasons.
The only Western Athletic Conference championships won in an event by SeattleU since 2021 are in the men's distance medley relay at the 2023 indoor championships, and in the women's distance medley relay at the 2024 indoor meet.
The women's cross country program has been the only bright spot in the overall performance of the SeattleU portfolio, finishing sixth in 2021, eighth in '22, sixth in '23, and fourth this season.
The indication that SeattleU might transition to a distance-only program began after Kelly Sullivan announced his retirement last summer. In the release, the school said it would launch a national search for his replacement, only to promote his assistant, Jordana LeSavage to her first head coaching position at an NCAA Division I school.
NOTE: The sports information offices of Seattle University contributed to this report.
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