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Minnesota teams get stay of execution
Attempting to play a college golf schedule in Minnesota, be it a fall or spring season, is always questionable. But for the University of Mnnesota golf teams, it’s become a question of whether, not weather.
University president Mark Yudof recommended in early April that three teams—men’s and women’s golf and men’s gymnastics — be eliminated at the end of this spring season. Yudof said the move was part of the University s plan to trim a projected $21 million athletic department budget deficit by $8.5 million over five years.
The men’s golf program has consistently ranked among the top 25 in the U.S. for most of thp past decade and won the Big Ten championship in May. The women’s program has produced two Ail-Americans.
Since the announcement, Yudof has given the programs a one-year reprieve contingent on $900,000 being raised by the end of June. He says that if the teams are to be sustained through 2005, the fund raising efforts must generate another $1.8 million by February 2003. This move would be beneficial for student athletes who might consider transferring.
But three of the four scholarship players on the women’s team with remaining eligibility (Tai Kinney, Kirstin Whalen and Karen Quintelier) have already announced their intentions to transfer. Karyn Stor-dalil, the other, is considering a move if she can find a school that will accept enough of her credits. And neither of the female recruits who signed with Minnesota last fall are expected to attend the school. Even the coach is looking for a new job.
“I haven’t been able to sleep at night,” said women’s coach Melissa Arthur-Ringler. “The president’s announcement has virtually destroyed our program.”
Adds Brad James, interim head coach of the men’s team, “What do I tell the players who are in high school right now, especially here in the state?… Do I recruit them as though nothing has happened? Or am I honest with them and tell them I don’t know what is going to happen?”
Officials at the University said the teams to eliminate were chosen on a number of factors, including income generated against costs of operation, Title IX compliance and impact on diversity, attendance at the team’s competitions, Minnesota high school participation rates in the sport, the number of Minnesota residents on the team and the competitive opportunities at the college level.
Yudof’s decision came at the same time he announced that the men’s and women’s athletic departments were merging, and both the men’s and women’s athletic directors would not be retained. Tom Мое, the men’s athletic director until the end of June, said he and the boosters who will do the fund-raising are confident
“It’s not going to be easy,” says Мое, “but golf has such a rich tradition in Minnesota, and the Gophers have been a part of that golf tradition.” — Jon Roe
