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If you ever have wondered while looking at Pac 10 Track and Cross-Country results why only nine teams show up in the scoring it is because Oregon State dropped Men's and Women's Cross-Country and Track and Field over a decade ago. The decision has been made to add the Women's side of the sport for the 2004-2005 school year. With Title IX, an attempt to balance Men's/Women's College sports participation undoubtedly a part of this decision, do not expect the Men's team to be added soon. It will be interesting to see who becomes the coach, since the program just before it was dropped was described by conference coaches to me as terribly weak. Great opportunity for some young ladies!!

OSU Adds Women's Track And Field, Cross Country
Beavers will resume competing during the 2004-05 academic year

July 7, 2003

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University will add women's track and field and cross country to its athletic program beginning in the 2004-05 academic year, OSU athletic director Bob De Carolis announced Monday. The move is being made to keep the Beavers in compliance with the membership requirements for NCAA Division I-A.

Fielding teams in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track will give OSU 18 intercollegiate athletic programs; the minimum for Division I-A is 16. It will also move the Beavers toward compliance with Title IX gender equity requirements.

"We're very happy to start the process of adding these teams to Oregon State's athletic family," De Carolis said. "There's a tremendous history of high-quality running in this state and in the Pacific Northwest, and that made track and field and cross country a natural fit for us as we expand our offerings.

"In speaking with our constituency across the state, the running community is extremely supportive of this project. The pieces are there to enable us to be successful both within the Pacific-10 and nationally over the long haul."

OSU's goal is to hire a coach for the program prior to the start of school in September, allowing a year of advance work before competition begins. The Beavers will begin competition with an emphasis on middle- and long-distance events.

"As the program develops and matures, it will branch into other areas and become a more comprehensive program," De Carolis said.

Oregon State's campus does not have an all-weather track, so OSU is exploring several sites or relationships with other schools for a short-term facility. Another possibility is building a first-class cross country course.

"That would enable us to host everything from youth and high school meets on up through national championships or world-class meets," De Carolis said. "Right now, we're still looking at the possibilities for both those options, a track and/or cross country course."

The decision to add track and cross country came as the result of a year-long study by a subcommittee of OSU's Athletic Advisory Board, which consists of faculty, students and alumni. The subcommittee not only looked at the full list of NCAA-sponsored sports as possible additions, but also at the Beavers' current programs and their continuance.

Several factors went into selecting track and field and cross country - financial aspects (equipment, salaries, facilities, scholarships, recruiting and other overhead), competitive potential within the conference and at the national level, Title IX considerations, and interest and abilities (high schools, club associations and club sports).

"One of the big things was the recruiting pool for a potential sport," De Carolis said. "There's a wealth of running talent in high schools in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Also, the profile of the middle- and long-distance runner is that many of those students choose to go into natural resource studies or engineering, and those are two fields in which Oregon State University has some of the nation's best programs. It makes it an attractive package to a student-athlete."

Oregon State previously fielded varsity women's track and field and cross country teams from 1975 to 1988; both the men's and women's programs were discontinued after the 1988 season. The Beavers produced three U.S. Olympic women's team members, as high jumper Joni Huntley earned spots in 1976 and 1984, 800-meter runner Kathy Weston qualified in 1976 and heptathlete Cindy Greiner was on the 1984, 1988 and 1992 squads.

In those 14 seasons of intercollegiate competition, OSU had 12 All-America finishes and four national champions in the AIAW (1975-81) and NCAA (1982-88) national meets. Oregon State had 14 regional champions in the years prior to women's track becoming a Pac-10 sport in 1987; the Beavers then competed just two years in the Pac-10 before dropping track.

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