Cal State L.A. Says It Is Probing Complaints by Former Athletes

Officials at Cal State Los Angeles released a statement Friday in response to complaints by three former members of the women’s cross-country team who accused Coach Greg Ryan of mentally abusing them, violating NCAA rules and misappropriating funds.

The complaints, detailed in a story that appeared in Friday’s editions of The Times, were filed with the university last week by Maria Lopez, Jeri Young and Gracie Padilla, who attended Cal State L.A. between 1992 and ’94.

“Last week three letters from former student-athletes were delivered to Cal State L.A. with specific allegations of misconduct regarding the women’s cross-country program,” the statement read. “The university takes all complaints of this nature seriously, and is in the process of conducting an investigation of these allegations.”

The players accused Ryan of signing a parent’s name on financial aid documents, telling some athletes to sign for per-diem payments at meets in which they did not participate, lending athletes money, paying the rent for a star athlete a year before she enrolled at Cal State L.A., reneging on promises of full scholarships and being so obsessed with athletes’ weight that he encouraged them to skip meals.

Ryan, 47, refused to comment on the allegations and referred all questions to the school’s legal counsel.