ANALYSIS: Washington State guts its storied track and field program...

This is a tough column to write.

Washington State University's decision to gut its storied track and field program is a bitter pill to swallow.

I grew up attending the annual Dual between Washington and Washington State, and witnessed in person the infamous finger point by Billy Hicks of UW towards WSU's Gary Minor in the 1975 meet. I also participated in the meet as a Washington student manager, and later on, as the meet announcer.

Washington State's "Long Crimson Line" in track and cross country includes many greats in the sport, including Henry Rono, Samson Kimobwa, Joseph Taiwo, Ian Campbell, Ebba Jungmark, Lissa Gray, twins Diana & Julie Pickler, Ian Waltz, John van Reenen, and of course, Bernard Lagat.

After the COVID year, the Huskies hosted Washington State in the 2021 Dual at Husky Track, sweeping the Cougs 86-77 on the men's side and 95-68 in the women's competition.

The following year in Pullman, the Washington men won 100-63, while the WSU women won by a 94-69 count.

With the infield at Husky Track sinking, thus making the marks from the throwing events invalid for qualifying purposes, the meet was tabled, while both schools used that week in the schedule to compete at meets where athletes could get qualifying marks for the conference and regional championships.

In the last two years, the Huskies have sent athletes to the Penn Relays on the weekend normally slotted for The Dual.

The combination of roster limits implemented by the NCAA in the 2025-26 academic year of 45 for track and 17 for cross country (the 17 for cross country DOES count towards your 45 for track) will make meets like The Dual go the way of the dinosaur.

As I wrote Wednesday, the first domino to fall was Mason Lawyer. The NCAA qualifier in four individual events during the indoor and outdoor seasons (60 & 200 indoors; 100 & 200 outdoors) posted on Instagram that he is entering the transfer portal.

I received a direct message from the father of WSU sprinter Brooke Lyons (photo courtesy WSU Athletics) stating that she went on a visit to the University of Arkansas.

I've also heard unconfirmed reports that 400 meter runner Grant Buckmiller, who won a gold medal at the 2024 World Athletics U20 championships in the 4 x 400 relay is possibly looking at Texas A&M as a landing spot.

Needless to say, it's safe to assume that the majority of those on the 2024-25 Washington State track roster who competed in the sprints, jumps, and throws, have entered or will enter the NCAA transfer portal in hopes of finding a home to continue their track and field career.

With the school year at Washington State ending in mid-May, and all but six male athletes eliminated after the West Regionals in College Station, Texas at the end of last month, the majority of Washington State team members were caught flat-footed by the decision by WSU to strip the WSU track team.

According to an article in the Lewiston (Idaho) Tribune, WSU team members received an email from deputy director of athletics Brad Corbin Monday morning at 10:30am, of a mandatory Zoom call at 1 pm.

“Once (WSU athletic director Anne McCoy) told us the news, we were all shocked, as we were not warned in any particular way,” sprinter Ashley Hollenbeck-Willems said via text to the Tribune. “We were upset because they said they had known for weeks but didn’t tell us because a few of us had made it to Nationals and were still competing.”

We are coming up on the end of June, which in the case of a majority of schools, means the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year. Where I really feel for the student-athletes is the fact that if indeed Washington State's athletic administration knew weeks beforehand that they were going to strip the track team and go to a distance-only model, wouldn't they at least given the athletes some time to put themselves in the portal, and at least give them the opportunity to see what's available?

Some WSU athletes who enter the portal will undoubtedly get left without a team, either because the school they want to attend doesn't have a roster position, a coach that aligns with the individual, they don't offer the academic program they want, or they were too late in contacting the school.

With the way college athletics is going in light of the House v NCAA settlement, which makes Division I schools set aside $20+ million starting in September to pay primarily football and basketball players, you will see more and more schools reduce the number of roster positions and/or scholarships for track and cross country as well as cut the number of sports to the absolute minimum to stay in Division I or in the case of Washington State, stay in the 134-member Football Bowl Subdivision, which is the highest level of college football, and draws the most fans, television viewership, and money. 

You'll also see more schools go to the model that WSU, Gonzaga, and Seattle University are going to--a distance only model, or in the cases of USC and Arizona State, a program heavily loaded with sprinters. Field event specialists will go to a program loaded with field event athletes, depending on who the head coach is and what his or her expertise lies at.

Developmental athletes will either go to Division II or III schools and hope they can improve to the point where they'll get noticed by a Division I school, or end their competitive careers. Some may even compete for their college teams at the club level, which is often sponsored through the intramural sports departments, which offers little in the way of support.

Bottom line? Like dual meets, the days of a well rounded and balanced track and field teams as we know it will cease to exist. There will be a separation between the haves and the have nots in Division I.

As Brooke Lyons told the Tribune, “This is never what college sports were meant to be,” 

“College sports are meant to build a spirit and community within the universities. Obviously, now we’re seeing it’s just kind of tearing them apart, and it’s lost its purpose. And I think people need to realize that quick, or else there’s going to be a lot more issues like this.”

NOTE: The sports information office of Washington State University contributed to this report.

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