San Diego State Suspends Track and Field Program

Citing increased budget problems within the athletic department, San Diego State Athletic Director Fred Miller announced Tuesday the indefinite suspension of men’s and women’s track and field.

Miller, who made the announcement at SDSU’s football operations center, said the athletic department needed to make “cost-containing moves” because of a budget deficit that has now reached $577,000.

The cutting of track and field would save about $225,000 on the 1989-90 budget, Miller said.

After dropping track, SDSU needed to add another women’s sport to meet the NCAA requirements for remaining a Division I program, and Miller also announced the addition of women’s soccer. SDSU now has 15 sports, eight men’s and seven women’s.

Women’s soccer, which will offer no scholarships initially, will cost around $5,000 because it is already a club sport that generates its own income. Chuck Clegg, the men’s soccer coach, will serve as director of soccer, overseeing men and women.

“We take no pride in this kind of announcement,” Miller said. “Other universities are in the same situation. We’re no different than anyone’s family budget, where we’ve spent more than we’ve taken in.”

Miller said revenue from football was down about $190,000 from projected figures because of sluggish attendance stemming from the poor records of the past two seasons. Men’s basketball revenue was $85,000 above projections, but it was not enough to save track.

“We only have two income generators, football and (men’s) basketball. Those programs have to succeed. And we have to make sure those programs succeed,” Miller said.

Jim Cerveny, director of men’s and women’s track and field, said Miller notified him of the school’s action around 5 p.m. Monday, and the two met Tuesday morning to discuss the situation further. Cerveny accepted the news but refused to see it as the end of track at SDSU.

“It was difficult to accept,” Cerveny said. “But we knew we had to make some budget cuts. Dr. Miller has been very positive all the way. I really believe he didn’t want to cut the program. Our program was the easiest solution to the budgetary needs.”

But he added, “I don’t want the rug to be pulled. Cut my budget, but let me run a program.” He said he could run the program with $150,000 and will try to revive it through donations.

He said that $50,000 of that budget is set aside for scholarships and grants, which the school has agreed to honor next season anyway. Of the remaining $100,000 needed, Cerveny said he already has $20,000 committed ($10,000 from the athletic department and $5,000 each from the budgets of men’s soccer team and men’s volleyball) and has set a Aug. 1 deadline to raise the additional money.

“I figure that we’re not ready to quit. We’re survivors.”

The track program consisted of approximately 90 athletes (this year’s roster listed 57 men and 32 women) and four coaches, including Cerveny, who has been at SDSU for eight years after coaching highly successful Morse High teams from 1974 to 1981.

Last year, SDSU received $225,000 in grants from the state for improvements to Choc Sportsman Track, a state-of-the-art, multi-event facility. The improvements have been completed, and the improved facility was scheduled as the site of the Western Athletic Conference championships in 1991.

Miller said SDSU will honor all track scholarships and grants next year if the athlete chooses to remain at the school. Those wishing to transfer will be permitted to compete immediately for a new school under the NCAA rules of transfering from a canceled program.

The suspension of the program puts the futures of many of its participants in doubt. At least one of its best athletes thinks he will have no choice but to transfer.

Said Pat Thiss, a junior hammer thrower who finished 14th at the NCAA championships this month, “I don’t know why they cut our program. The women’s basketball team is in mid-scandal. They just fired the coach. They’re paying Denny Stolz to coach golf. Why do they cut us?

“We don’t cause problems. We never cause problems. We win. We send athletes to the nationals. Fred Miller dropped a bomb on us. He really did a number on us. That’s 90 athletes who have really had a monkey wrench thrown into their lives.”

Thiss said he will wait before deciding whether to transfer. But he made it clear that if track is not reinstated, he will leave. “I’m on schedule to graduate. Transfering to another school would really put me back. But I would have to transfer,” he said.

Cerveny, who is also the men’s and women’s cross-country coach, said the school will keep him for the fall cross-country season, but his status is uncertain after Feb. 1, 1990.