July 2020

Track and Field Contents Writers of P. 1 President’s Message America P. 3 USATF Board Deals With Fallout From CEO’s Salary, Olympic Committee Challenges P. 3 Scheduling Update - USATF Elite Competitions (Founded June 7, 1973) P. 4 The Prefontaine Classic Officially Calls Off Its 2020 Meet PRESIDENT P. 4 News Links Jack Pfeifer P. 5 NCAA Bans All Championship Events in Mississippi Over State Flag With Confederate Emblem 2199 NW Everett St. #601 P. 5 News Links Portland, Oregon 97210 Office/home: 917-579- P. 6 Trial of Diacks Exposes Dark Backdrop of Track’s Golden Era 5392. Email: P. 7 Clayton Murphy Statement Regarding the University of Akron [email protected] P. 8 With Hayward Field’s Reconstruction Complete, the University of Oregon Takes Possession P. 9 Doping Samples Can Be Used for Gender Verification Under 2021 Code SECRETARY- TREASURER P. 10 The Track and Field Writers of America Five Finalists for Book of the Year 2019 Tom Casacky P. 10 TAFWA Website Update P.O. Box 4288 P. 11 Catching Up With Nicole Freitag Napa, CA 94558 P. 11 American Hammer Thrower Placed on Probation for Podium Protest Demands Public Apology from USOPC Phone: 818-321-3234 Email: [email protected] P. 12 IOC Coordination Commission and 2024 Agree to Examine New Games Delivery Opportunities P. 13 Celebrating a Century of NCAA Track & Field Championships FAST P. 13 With or Without the Say of Players, College Football Moves Toward a Return Dave Johnson P. 14 1933 LSU Track Team Stuns Nation Email: [email protected] P. 16 Guidance for Opening Up High School Athletics and Activities Phone: 215-898-6145 P. 17 Catching Up With Jodee Adams-Moore P. 18 Central Michigan Track Athletes: We Were ‘Blindsided’ by Program Cuts WEBMASTER P. 20 Unique Anytime 5k is More Than a Virtual Race Michael McLaughlin Email: P. 21 Brown Men’s Track, Field and Cross Country Reinstated as Varsity Sports [email protected] P. 21 Brown University, If You Were Actually Serious About Racial Justice You Would Not Be Cutting the Men’s Track Team Phone: 815-529-8454 P. 22 News Links P. 23 2020 Fixtures List NEWSLETTER EDITOR Shawn Price Email: [email protected] President’s Message Phone: 979-661-0731 Virtual Reality I wasn’t around in 1944, three-quarters of a century ago, but it was a year when no one knew what the future would look like. Franklin Roosevelt was elected for a fourth term as president. He replaced Henry Wallace with Harry Truman as VP. The Republican, Tom Dewey, campaigned against the New Deal and won fewer than 100 electoral votes. The Nazis ruled Europe with an iron fist, but in June, the Americans crossed the English Channel. What of sports? Was there a Rose Bowl? Yes. USC defeated Washington 29-0 in a game broad- cast by radio to servicemen around the world. Because of wartime travel restrictions, the game was limited to West Coast schools. Pensive won the Kentucky Derby. The Cardinals beat the Browns in the World Series; all the games were played in Sportsman’s Park. Navy won the IC4A. At the Penn Relays, NYU won the sprint relays, Michigan the DMR and the 4xmile. The NCAA Championships were held in Milwaukee; because of the travel limitations, the meet was dominated by schools from the Midwest and Northeast. In New York, Bayside/Queens won its first PSAL team title. The and Relays were held. Are there parallels to today, to 2020? In 1944, the second Olympiad in a row was canceled. Would the Olympics ever be held again? In , the Big Meet between Cal and Stanford, which began in 1893, was canceled. For the first time since the end of the war, it wasn’t held this year either. Nor was the NCAA meet, the Penn Relays, the Kentucky Derby or a single state high school championships. What now? No one knows what the future holds. A volatile presidential election is under way. Will there be a Rose Bowl in January 2021? Will there be a college football or cross country season this fall? Or will foot- ball move to next spring, as a desperate way to preserve the revenue? That’s a dilemma college TF doesn’t have! The scholastic track seasons have washed out, and the professional one is hanging by a thread. In response, various “virtual” competitions are being held. Most are situated in secret places, to hold down on live audiences. Some are webcast. Some are so secret, they are only reported after the fact. Two national high school records were set last week on the west coast. The New Yorker Leah Pasqualetti flew to Califor- nia and vaulted 14-8 ¼, while the hammer thrower Trey Knight drove down I-5 to Portland and threw 261-7. A handful of people saw them. Road running is being hammered as all major marathons have been shut down, including Boston, New York and . The next questions are, will COVID-19 have a long-term impact on track and field, cross country and road running? Will the Olympics be held in 2021 in or will they be called off until Paris 2024? Some colleges quickly announced cutbacks, claiming that the resulting financial crush forced them to make “difficult deci- sions.” There is reporting in this issue on the situations at Akron – where the track team remains on the shelf – and Brown, where the men’s team was restored amid an acrimonious public debate.

Hayward Field Control of the job site has been passed back to the university while the stadium gets the finishing touches and the new track is lined. The Oregon head coach, Robert Johnson, hopes to give his team a first look at their new digs during the sum- mer. After that, TAFWA hopes to get a tour, focused on the press accommodations. We will file a full report. Our current understanding is that next spring’s schedule in the new stadium will include the Pac-12, the Prefontaine Classic, the NCAA and the Olympic Trials, on the tentative assumption that life will be back to normal nine months from now. There were attempts to stage a miniature version of the Pre meet in October, but that finally came to naught. Other Dia- mond League meets remain on the calendar over the next few months in Europe, where spread of the coronavirus is lighter than in the States. Drastic changes to meet procedure are being discussed for the upcoming cross country season, including allowing teams to run alone, the results determined by combined time – a la the annual Eastern States meet at Van Cortlandt Park in New York – rather than low score wins.

Book Award The five finalists for this year’s TAFWA Book Award appear in this issue, courtesy of our selection chair, Peter Walsh. This award will be announced later this year and presented next year. Our remaining awards will be held over until ’21. If you haven’t paid your $30 dues for 2020, please do so.

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK 1940 Jack Shepard, boys HS editor for Track & Field News and editor/publisher of the High School Track series (since 1980), along with Bob Jarvis, FAST Award winning statistician, have spent decades gathering data to continue High School Track back into the pre-1950s. The first of this historic series covers the year 1940. The booklet contains 30-deep yearly lists, with meet/site/date, along with the then HS records and 10-deep all- time lists. [26 8½” x 11” pages]

Send a check or money order for $20, made payable to Jack Shepard, 14551 Southfield Dr., Westminster, CA 92683. Postage is included in the price for North America. Add $2 for foreign TAFWA Membership Dues for 2020 TAFWA dues for 2020 will remain at $30, and will buy you a series of excellent newsletters, the 2020 FAST Annual, and privileged entry to special TAFWA social events at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene (our yearly breakfast with athletes and coaches). Don’t miss out! You can send a check, payable to TAFWA, to PO Box 4288, Napa, CA 94558, or use PayPal, to the ad- dress [email protected]. TAFWA Newsletter - Page 2 - July 2020 USATF Board Deals With Fallout From CEO’s Salary, Olympic Committee Challenges https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a32971721/usatf-board-deals-with-fallout/

SCHEDULING UPDATE - USATF ELITE COMPETITIONS https://www.usatf.org/news/2020/scheduling-update-usatf-elite-competitions JUNE 26, 2020 - The uncertainty surrounding professional sporting events in 2020 has left many elite athletes, coaches, athlete representatives, and fans asking if USATF will hold a national championship in 2020. Since April, an advisory group of select High Performance Committee members and National Office staff have been meeting regularly, discussing and developing contingency plans and potential options for safely hosting a national season ending event in 2020. Because the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic is continually changing, it continues to challenge all professional sports in their ability to apply their contingency plans and for USATF to set an exact date and location for some form of a Championships event.

Also being discussed is whether it is best to offer a National Championships event in track & field, which the has done every year, without interruption for over 120 years, or offer a season ending US-only elite meet without the national championships designation. The changing nature of the COVID-19 in various locations have disparately affected athletes’ ability to train effectively, and a National Championships designation may cause some athletes to feel pressure to train when their current environment may add ad- ditional risk. This designation is being discussed and will be determined.

Below is an overview of USATF’s current contingency plans for a 2020 US Open or national season ending event. First and foremost, in this planning is mitigating risk for athletes, coaches, officials, and staff who would travel to and participate in the season ending meet. Included is an initial milestone date for decisions on event viability and release of additional logistical details for planning purposes.

**NOTE: With the ever-changing nature of the pandemic, these contingency plans below will likely be altered. Even when the milestone date is reached and if the event is officially confirmed, a later decision to cancel the meet due to the- CO VID-19 situation is entirely possible**

General Information for a 2020 US Open / national season ending meet Philosophy: Maximize safety / mitigate risk for athletes, coaches, and staff; for those who want to compete, provide two separate competition opportunities within a single travel effort; allow those not qualified based on mark a final opportunity to qualify at a -pre liminary Open meet at the same site in the days immediately preceding the US Open / season ending meet; give athletes enough time from the event confirmation announcement to adequately prepare. Projected dates: To be held within one of two possible weeks – either the week ending Sunday September 13, 2020 OR the week ending Sunday September 20, 2020. Projected location: To be determined, based on facility availability, state and local COVID-19 status, and state and local guidelines on mass gatherings. Safety considerations: For athlete protection, athletes in all events would need to test negative on two separate USATF adminis- tered COVID-19 tests after arrival to the meet location. No quarantine or “bubble” living required, but athletes encouraged to self-isolate and socially distance after arrival. Meet officials, meet staff, and coaches would be required to perform in-stadium event duties in a socially distanced manner and wear masks. Temperature checks for all participants to enter the stadium. A determination on fans being allowed to attend will be made based on recommendations of local health authorities. Athletes should make an informed decision about travel and competition, based on their personal level of risk tolerance (more information can be found here concerning USATF COVID-19 safety efforts and general risks associated with travel and competition). Projected format: Three day meet with reduced field sizes, reduced number of rounds (two rounds 800m and down, finals only all field events and remaining distance events), and athletes limited to declaring in (only) one event to maximize competitive opportunity for all (see USATF Open meet information below for a second competition opportunity at the same site). Multi-events could be held at same location and dates or a separate multis-only event (TBA). Qualifying: 1) A national descending order list to be used (qualifying window and conversion of indoor marks TBA); 2) automatic qualification based on place finish at a USATF Open meet, to be held the two days immediately preceding the Championships / season ending meet at the same site (can also be used as a tune up meet by already qualified athletes); 3) USATF Rule 8 automatic qualifiers (e.g., defending champion, recent OG / WC medalist, etc.) Travel funding: All USATF Tier, TPP, and designated development athletes who are qualified for and compete in the US Open / sea- son ending meet will receive an allocation for travel (amount TBA). Milestone dates: A decision to confirm the event will be made on or about July 15, 2020. If a decision is made to move forward, specific details on event logistics, qualifying, travel and housing, event schedule, etc. will be announced at that time.

**Even if the meet is confirmed, a later decision to cancel the meet due to the COVID-19 situation is entirely possible** TAFWA Newsletter - Page 3 - July 2020 The Prefontaine Classic officially calls off its 2020 meet By Chris Hanson | Register Guard https://www.registerguard.com/sports/20200626/prefontaine-classic-officially-calls-off-its-2020-meet The 2020 Prefontaine Classic has officially been canceled, meet organizers announced Friday morning. Originally scheduled for the first weekend in June at Hayward Field, the annual Diamond League track and field meet was previously — and tentatively — postponed until Oct. 4 in an effort to wait out the worldwide COVID-19 health crisis. The waiting is now over. “We held on as long as possible hoping that circumstances would allow us to hold the meet,” longtime meet director Tom Jordan said. “But that pandemic shows no signs of abating and there’s no international travel allowed and even national travel might be problematic with hot spots popping up.” World Athletics, track and field’s international governing body that runs the Diamond League series, also announced the cancellation of its Sept. 6 meet in Paris. Jordan said he did consider several options to keep the Pre Classic on the schedule, including hosting it as a virtual meet, or cobbling together a lineup from the many elite, Olympic-level athletes who train in Eugene, Portland and other locales where travel wouldn’t be an issue. In the end, “We still wanted it to be a meet worthy of the name,” Jordan said. “I’m usually a ‘something’s better than nothing’ kind of guy, and we certainly discussed everything, but what it boiled down to was would it be representative of a Prefontaine Classic?” The health and safety of the athletes, officials and fans — if they would have even been allowed inside Hayward Field — was also a concern. “If someone (tested positive) at the Pre Classic, I’d be devastated,” Jordan said. “The curve had to flatten to the point where everybody said this is acceptable, but we’re nowhere close.” TCS NYC Marathon Has Been Cancelled https://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=196&do=news&news_id=605126 Four Team USA Athletes Join Team Intel https://newsroom.intel.com/news/four-team-usa-athletes-join-team-intel/#gs.8xdv4w Intel announced its support for four athletes who will represent Team Intel on the path to Tokyo 2020. These U.S. ath- letes are the first group to join Team Intel for the Tokyo Games. Ashton Eaton (track and field), Lex Gillette (Paralympic track and field), Nneka Ogwumike (basketball) and Noah Lyles (track and field) have joined Team Intel as ambassadors for the upcoming Games. Athletes are the heart of what the Games represent as the world comes together to celebrate sport and diversity, and to push the boundaries of performance. In ad- dition to being Team Intel ambassadors, these athletes will work with Intel on initiatives like Athlete 365, the IOC’s official athlete support program, and provide feedback on how Intel’s technology can support athletes and the sport ecosystem. In- tel values the contribution from the athlete community and understands the unique perspective they bring when it comes to developing technology. “We have great respect for the commitment necessary to compete on the world’s biggest stage and so we are excited to welcome these athletes to Team Intel,” said Rick Echevarria, vice president and general manager, Intel Olympic Program. “Each member not only brings an impressive list of athletic achievements, but also, importantly to us, a passion for the role that technology plays both in their sport and in the world. We look forward to supporting them on their journey over the next year.”

Historic Agreement Reached On 2021 National Indoor Championships Weekend https://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=25&do=news&news_id=604944

Boston Marathon Cancelled; Virtual Race Option Offered https://www.rrca.org/news-articles/news-archives/2020/05/28/boston-marathon-cancelled-virtual-race-option-offered

TAFWA Newsletter - Page 4 - July 2020 San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum Is Reckoning With Racist Patron Avery Brundage https://observer.com/2020/06/san-francisco-asian-art-museum-avery-brundage-bust/

NCAA bans all championship events in Mississippi over state flag with Confederate emblem

By Patrick Magee | Sun Herald https://amp.sunherald.com/sports/article243659027.html?__twitter_impression=true

After the Southeastern Conference took a stand against the state flag in Mississippi on Thursday, the NCAA Board of Governors took it a step further on Friday. The NCAA announced that it is banning all of its championship events from being in the state as long as the Confederate emblem is included on the Mississippi state flag. The NCAA had previously only barred awarding NCAA championship sites that were determined in advance of a tourna- ment in states that displayed the Confederate flag. This means that the Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss baseball programs would no longer be able to host regionals or super regionals. All three baseball teams are regular contenders for conference championships and in the hunt as regional hosts. In basketball, the Mississippi State women’s team has recently served as a host to early round games in the NCAA Tourna- ment. The Lady Bulldogs will be forced to hit the road during the tournament under this ruling. “There is no place in college athletics or the world for symbols or acts of discrimination and oppression,” board chair Mi- chael V. Drake said in a statement. “We must continually evaluate ways to protect and enhance the championship experience for college athletes. Expanding the Confederate flag policy to all championships is an important step by the NCAA to further provide a quality experience for all participants and fans.” On Thursday, the SEC announced that it was considering not allow conference championship events to take place in Missis- sippi as long as the Confederate emblem is included on the state flag. There has been a growing debate in Mississippi over the flag in recent weeks as protests against institutional and police brutality have taken place across the country. Mississippi’s public universities put out a joint statement Friday in support of the NCAA’s decision, noting that the state could miss out on millions of dollars with the postseason ban. “We are looking forward to a time when our state flag represents the full and rich diversity of Mississippi, a diversity that is reflected in our student-athletes, our student bodies, and the friends and fans of our athletics teams,” the statement said. “We look forward to a time when Mississippi’s state flag unites Mississippians, rather than divides us.” TAFWA Newsletter - Page 5 - July 2020 Trial of Diacks exposes dark backdrop of track’s golden era By John Leicester And Jerome Pugmire | AP News https://apnews.com/36321357097c3979b914053f64e54cf9 PARIS (AP) — As Usain Bolt set the world ablaze, making athletics the hottest ticket at the , the sport was also being eaten from within. That grim picture has emerged from a cor- ruption trial in Paris that has shown how the thrilling era for track fans was poisoned behind the scenes by a father-son partnership at the top of the IAAF, the international governing body that organizes Olympic races and world champi- onships. Nine months before Bolt set the first of his sprint world records, then-IAAF President Lamine Diack signed an agreement in September 2007 to pay his own son $900 per day — later increased to $1,200 — for consultancy work. Armed with his father’s name and influence as a titan of Olympic sports, Papa Massata Diack set to work negotiating lucrative sponsor- ship deals for the IAAF. In the process, prosecutors allege, the Diacks got filthy rich, siphoning off revenue for themselves and lining bank accounts with hush- money allegedly extorted from athletes who coughed up six-figure sums to avoid being sanctioned for doping. The Diacks contest the corruption, money laundering and breach of trust charges examined in six days of hearings. The trial high- lighted governance problems that have plagued sports in their growth from what were once amateur pursuits into a global mega-industry short on effective oversight. The Diacks’ alleged malfeasance didn’t merely bite giant chunks out of IAAF revenues and trash its reputation as a leader in fighting doping, causing losses the governing body now values at 41 million euros ($46 million). The court heard that athletes also were handi- capped and hurt financially by having to compete against runners who should have been suspended for doping but instead benefitted from a crooked system dubbed “full protection,” paying hush-money to keep competing. Two French former runners, Christelle Daunay and Hind Dehiba, are seeking damages. Dehiba’s attorney, Florent Hauchecorne, described the trial as a milestone in ending the seeming impunity that long shielded sports administrators from criminal punishment. “The problem is that sport has become an industry,” he said. “And in the background, there are the geopolitical interests of nations which, in the end, lead to the conclusion that the doping of athletes and helping athletes dope to win medals is no worse than employing secret services to intervene here and there.” The trial showed how the Diacks lived large while athletes sweated for success. Lamine Diack jetted the world and rubbed shoulders with VIPs. Prosecutor Arnaud de Laguiche said sports leaders like Diack “live like little emperors, they have their little courts and people court them.” In 2011, then-President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia presented Diack with a friendship medal. Known to few at the time, Diack that year was starting to deal behind the scenes with the crisis that would irredeemably tarnish his nearly 16-year IAAF presidency: Rife dop- ing in Russia. With the Olympic Games of 2012 looming, Diack feared that punishing a large group of athletes together could hurt negotiations with a Russian sponsor, the court heard. Diack acknowledged he intervened to quietly slow down the sanctioning process, but denied knowl- edge of payoffs. Prosecutors allege the Diacks squeezed athletes for 3.45 million euros. The World Anti-Doping Agency argued in court that the alleged cover-up caused lasting damage, by ruining athletes’ trust in the anti- doping system. WADA lawyer Emmanuel Daoud likened Diack to Sepp Blatter, the former FIFA president whose long tenure was also tarnished by widespread corruption among the sport’s administrators. “It’s like one of those American films, where the old Mafiosi sit at the back of a restaurant eating spaghetti, making or breaking lives,” Daoud said. “Mr. Diack acted like an omnipotent patriarch.” In court, the 87-year-old Diack often provided inaudible and confusing testimony. He recalled details from his youth with clarity but repeatedly blanked when pressed on details of the case. “I am starting to become an old nail,” he said. One of his lawyers, Simon Ndiaye, said Diack feels it is “globally unfair” that he is answering for “a whole system, in which lots of people took part.” The most conspicuous absentee was his son, Papa Massata Diack, who lives in Senegal and didn’t travel to Paris for the trial. Prosecutors put Papa Massata Diack at the heart of the alleged racketeering of athletes and the creaming off of IAAF revenues. The son had expensive tastes: Investigators found he bought watches and other luxury goods worth 1.7 million euros from a store off the Champs-Elysees. “He conducted himself like a thug,” Lamine Diack said in court. Now rebranded as World Athletics, the IAAF has turned over a new leaf under Sebastian Coe, the former middle-distance runner who has overseen reforms since he succeeded Diack as president in 2015. But the risk of further damage looms: Diack is also under investigation in another French probe of bidding contests for the 2020 Olympics and other major competitions. Prosecutors asked the court for a 4-year prison term and a fine of 500,000 euros ($562,000 ) for Lamine Diack. For Papa Massata Diack, they are seeking 5 years imprisonment, a fine of 500,000 euros and a court-ordered life ban from any activity in sport. The verdicts are expected in coming months. TAFWA Newsletter - Page 6 - July 2020 My Statement Regarding The University Of Akron’s Cut Of Men’s Cross Country And Slashing Of The Track And Field Budget By Clayton Murphy https://www.claytonmurphy.com/blog/2020/6/18/aghj4uxhxr52698d7bkqbrrrgn5s95

Below is my statement regarding the University of Akron cutting men’s cross country and the budget cuts of the track and field program:

Just a short 4 years ago I won a second NCAA title for the University of Akron at the NCAA Outdoor championships. A few months later I was able to bring home a bronze medal from the Rio Olympic Games to Northeast Ohio and the university.

Now just a few years later the same university that was quoted as saying my Olympic medal was worth “100 bowl games” is now drop- ping the men’s cross country program, drastically reducing track and field scholarships, slashing the program’s operating budget and eliminating my former coach, Lee LaBadie’s position. Men’s cross country is a net positive revenue for the university, 1.2 scholarships spread amongst 12 athletes. So most of the the athletes pay tuition along with room and board, now these athletes are force to take their talents and tuition elsewhere. These decisions were made without any input from the program director and head coach, Dennis Mitchell, or Coach LaBadie. Now, almost 5 weeks after the original statement about the elimination of Men’s Cross Country, the Athletic Direc- tor Larry Williams and President Gary Miller and his office have yet to present one specific reason that stands up to anything we have presented.

I understand the extremely tough position the leadership is in, however the track and field program is arguably the most successful enterprise at the University of Akron. Just a few short years ago there were three Olympians that were plastered around the university and held up in the media to help promote the university. I have had conversations with both the President and the Athletic Director and both conversations were, to be blunt, pointless. Neither would discuss one detail about the analysis they say led to the cut of men’s cross country and the drastic cuts to track and field.

I have posted and presented to them our analysis and evidence that refutes their assertions pertaining the need to cut cross country for either financial or Title IX reasons. We have raised money to cover the team’s budget for more than a decade, however during both conversations I was told we appreciate your passion but have nothing to discuss since the decision “fits into the athletic profile or eco- system of the University”. I was also told this was a minor decision and that while our analysis was good, it was also flawed. In the next breath, they refused to share their own analysis since “that’s not how we operate.” It’s hard to take them at their word when their lack of transparency is so blatant.

For those of you unaware, last season the University of Akron football team was 0-12, the only winless team in the FBS. In 2008 the University took on a $71 million project to build a brand new footballs stadium where the Zips have won 25 home games over the 11 years since it was completed. That’s $2.8 million per victory, and I doubt the revenue generated by the football team comes close to pay- ing for that millstone. The men’s and women’s track and field team in that 11 year span has won a combined 22 MAC championships. Yet the football program continues to be fully funded, isn’t facing consequential cuts, and is even rumored to be expanding its roster well above the NCAA average for walk-ons this coming season. My intent is not to bash the football program or the student-athletes in that program, but rather to highlight the disparities that exist when it comes to the treatment of different programs by the athletic depart- ment and the university.

I can no longer stand with a university which continues to stand behind a publicity stunt and refuses to support a track and field/cross country program that has done nothing but continually produce successful men and women on and off the track: a program that just 4 years ago was used as a highlight of your public image. I will no longer allow the university to use my image and likeness for marketing or as a promotional asset.

TAFWA Newsletter - Page 7 - July 2020 With Hayward Field’s reconstruction complete, the University of Oregon takes possession By Ken Goe | The Oregonian | https://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/2020/06/with-hayward-fields-recon- struction-complete-the-university-of-oregon-takes-possession.html? The University of Oregon took formal possession of Hayward Field on Tuesday, bringing to an end a two-year reconstruc- tion project that transformed the well-loved if antiquated UO stadium into one said to be among the best track and field facilities in the world. Paul Weinhold, president and CEO of the University of Oregon Foundation confirmed the Tuesday handover in a text message on Wednesday. The campus property that houses the stadium had been leased to the limited liability corporation Hayward Field En- hancement for the length of the privately funded project. The project began in June 2018 and is estimated to have cost more than $200 million. Weinhold said by text he knew of no immediate plans for a public unveiling of the new Hayward Field, and didn’t antici- pate one until fall. The campus remains closed to the general public because of the coronavirus pandemic. “That decision will be a UO Athletics decision,” Weinhold wrote. Replying Monday by email, UO athletic department spokesman Zach Lawson referred a reporter to the university’s “Hay- ward Field Renovation” webpage, last updated for the week of June 1. The original Hayward Field was built as a football stadium in 1919. It has been used for track meets since 1921. It was conceded to be inadequate for many reasons to host the 2021 World Outdoor Track & Field Championships, awarded to Eugene in 2015. The meet since has been delayed until 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Organizers originally had hoped to preserve as much of the historic stadium’s character as possible, including the east grandstand. But attempts to raise private money for that design foundered. When Nike co-founder Phil Knight, a former UO track athlete, became involved, the original plans were scrapped in favor of a more modern look. That led to a contentious back and forth between some longtime fans in the community. Hoffman Construction, the firm that handled the project, acted quickly to level the east grandstand less than two weeks after the conclusion of the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships, the final major event staged at the old Hayward Field. The permanent seating of the new stadium is listed as 12,650 and expandable to nearly,25.000, making it significantly larger than the previous stadium. The older Hayward Field had a listed seating capacity of 10,500. But a hand count done in 2018 revealed no more than 8,500 seats. Knight and his wife, Penny, are said to have contributed the lion’s share of the project’s funding. The new stadium is said to feature a number of spectator upgrades, such as 22-inch seats and unobstructed sight lines. It also will be used as a training facility for members of the UO track team. Among the enhancements are much larger indoor practice areas, locker rooms, a video room, weight room, treatment rooms, a theater and an area for training aids such as hydrotherapy pools and anti-gravity machines. Attempts Wednesday to reach UO track coach Robert Johnson and Jimmy Stanton, UO senior associate athletic director for communications, were not immediately successful.

TAFWA Newsletter - Page 8 - July 2020 Doping samples can be used for gender verification under 2021 Code By Andy Brown | Sports Integrity Initiative | https://www.sportsintegrityinitiative.com/doping-sam- ples-can-be-used-for-gender-verification-under-2021-code/ The 2021 World Anti-Doping Code gender verification regulation which says that ism, which resulted in the IOC’s Transgender specifies that samples taken from athletes for the testosterone level has to be below ‘x’ for Guidelines. anti-doping tests can also be used for gender a period of time. That would seem to be the Hunt the ‘male’ verification purposes. ‘An International same type of legitimate use as safety rules, A danger is that by explicitly specifying Federation could use data from a Doping health reasons and code of conduct rules. that anti-doping samples can be used in such Control test to monitor eligibility relating You probably could have done it under the a way, the Code can be used to target athletes to transgender and other eligibility rules’, existing Code language, but why not put it in with high testosterone competing in the reads Footnote 115 to Article 23.2.2 of the writing?” female category for medical intervention. final version of the 2021 Code, which was Cave didn’t say who had brought the re- World Athletics doesn’t have a great track published by the World Anti-Doping Agency quirement for gender verification to WADA’s record in this area, and used performance (WADA) yesterday. A footnote specifying attention. It is not known who made the data from athletes medically damaged due to that samples can be used in such a way is not recommendation, or if it came from WADA’s its Hyperandrogenism Regulations to prop up featured in the 2015 Code. extensive consultation process regarding the DSD Regulations. WADA’s 2021 Code archives indicate that changes to the Code. Four young athletes were told that lower- the text specifying that anti-doping samples During Caster Semenya’s challenge to ing their testosterone levels would help them can be used in this way appears to have been World Athletics’ Differences of Sex Devel- compete at the 2012 Olympics. added after Draft 3 of the 2021 Code was opment (DSD) Regulations at the Court of Following horrific medical interventions, we published. The text specifying that doping Arbitration for Sport (CAS), concerns were know that at least two will never compete samples can be used to verify gender doesn’t raised that athletes had not given consent for again and have suffered significant health appear in Draft 3, yet it does appear in the their samples to be used in this way. Jonathan issues. The four athletes were advised by Final Draft to be Approved at the 2019 World Taylor QC represented World Athletics in the surgeons implementing the IAAF’s Hyper- Conference on Doping in Sport. The change Caster Semenya case. androgenism Regulations – the forerunner doesn’t appear in any of the ‘redline’ versions Taylor is a Partner at Bird & Bird, where he to the DSD Regulations – which involved 30 or ‘Summary of Major Changes’ documents and Liz Riley drafted the DSD Regulations for cases between 2011 and July 2015. published by WADA. It would therefore ap- World Athletics. Taylor also drafted the Hy- When medical intervention requires syn- pear that the text was inserted without full perandrogenism Regulations, the forerunner thetic testosterone but sport’s rules do not consultation with WADA’s stakeholders. to the DSD Regulations. Until January this permit it, this can also make people ill. This “There’s always been a provision in the year, Taylor was Chair of WADA’s Compliance was the case for Kristen Worley and Sloan Code – and you can find it in the 2015 Code Review Committee (CRC) and spoke at the Teeple, two XY karyotype athletes. Sport’s – that you can use anti-doping samples for 2019 World Conference on Doping in Sport. regulations forced Worley, a transitioned XY disciplinary and health purposes”, explained Riley, Counsel to the International Paralympic female, to lower her testosterone levels below Richard Young of Bryan Cave Leighton Pais- Committee (IPC), is a member of the WADA what was required by her physiology, causing ner, who led the drafting of the Code, when Code drafting team, and also spoke at the her significant health issues. Teeple, a doctor questioned about this at the 2019 World 2019 World Conference on Doping in Sport. specialising in low testosterone who also Conference on Doping in Sport, where the The duo also advised the International suffers with the condition, was not permitted Final Draft was approved by the WADA Foun- Olympic Committee (IOC) on its Transgender synthetic testosterone to bring his hormonal dation Board and Executive Committee. “It Rules. Taylor and Riley were participants in levels back up to normal, which also caused was brought to our attention that yes, there the IOC’s November 2015 Consensus Meeting him health complications. is a new requirement for testing which is the on Sex Reassignment and Hyperandrogen- Excerpt, rest available via link above. TAFWA Newsletter - Page 9 - July 2020 The Track and Field Writers of America Five Finalists for Book of The Year 2019 Here they are 2019’s picks for the TAFWA Book of the Year. Speed, strength, determination, experience, tech- nique, science, belief, history, freedom, grace and grit, blood and sweat, philosophy, inspiration, glory and loss, victory and pain, youth and wisdom and exhilarating life. Something for everyone in the usual day of a runner reflected by our 2019 authors.

AMAZING RACERS - The Story Of America’s Greatest Running Team And Its Revolutionary Coach By Marc Bloom Pegasus,NY, London; 2019

A RUNNERS GUIDE To 30 Years Of Off The Road By Russ Ebbets Book Crafters, Parker,Co; 2019

RACE ACROSS AMERICA: EDDIE GARDNER and the Great Bunion Derbies By Charles Kastner Syracuse University Press, NY;2019

RUNNING TO THE EDGE - A Band Of Misfits And The Guru Who Unlocked The Secrets Of Speed By Matthew Futterman Doubleday, NY NY; 2019

RUNNING TO GLORY - An Unlikely Team, A Challenging Season, And Chasing The American Dream By Sam McManis Lyons Press, MD; 2019

TAFWA Website Update Have you checked out the T.A.F.W.A. website recently ? The website has recently been relaunched with a more streamlined design, using the latest website applica- tions, which includes a more simplified security arrangement for members to access the protected content.

With this relaunch, new content has been added, and some more is on its way !

As with all websites, it is always a work in progress.

We would also like to publicize any member publications that they might have for sale. So, if you have pro- duced or co-produced, a book on track and field, please send the details, along with an image of the cover to our Web-Master for inclusion on the website.

Note: If you try to logon to the website and your Password (or Email) isn’t accepted, you can request that it be reset. But! The link to change your Password will be sent to the email address that is associated with your account within the website. So, if you have changed email accounts since you last accessed the website then you won’t get that link. In this case please shoot our Web-Master Michael an email with your current email address and that will be changed, and you will then be able to access the website.

Comments on and suggestions for the website are always welcome.

TAFWA Newsletter - Page 10 - July 2020 Catching Up With ... Freitag finds her footing in the world https://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Freitag-finds-her-footing-in-the-world-15315401.php

American hammer thrower placed on probation for podium protest demands public apology from USOPC By Liam Morgan | Inside The Games | https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1094909/berry-demands-apology-from-usopc American hammer thrower Gwen Berry has demanded a public her Pan-American Games protest https://www.news18.com/ apology from the United States Olympic and Paralympic Commit- news/sports/hammer-thrower-who-was-rebuked-for-his-pan- tee (USOPC) in light of the organisation’s response to nationwide american-games-protest-demands-apology-from-us-olympic- protests following the death of George Floyd. chiefs-2650523.html … In a letter to athletes addressing widespread demonstrations Berry’s reply was met with considerable support on , across the country, USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland said with some suggesting the letter from Hirshland demonstrated the USOPC “stands with those who demand equality and we want hypocrisy from the USOPC. to work in pursuit of that goal”. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Berry said she had been Hirshland said the USOPC “absolutely condemn the systemic subjected to death threats after her podium protest at 2019 inequality that disproportionately impacts black Americans in and warned incidents such as the death of Floyd would continue the US” and that she felt a “sense of despair” at the situation after unless there were fundamental changes to the US system. Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed by a white police officer “The system has been corrupt for a very long time,” she said. in Minneapolis. “I know that in my lifetime, there probably won’t be too much While Hirshland had praised Berry, who raised a clenched change. fist in protest at racial inequality in the US after winning gold in “The police act like this because of the system. the women’s hammer at Lima 2019, and Race Imboden for their “The President acts like this because of the system. admirable decisions to be an “active citizen” when demonstrating “I feel like that’s the thing people need to realise. at the , the USOPC placed both on 12-month “Until everyone gets on one accord, we’re going to keep seeing probation. these things happen. The USOPC also warned that others who make similar stands “We have to burn down the system.” will be given harsher sanctions. There has been more than a week of protests across the US and Berry, who said the decision from the USOPC has cost her beyond since Floyd’s death, for which now-fired white police of- $50,000 (£39,800/€44,600) in sponsorship earnings, first called ficer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with third-degree murder. for a written apology from the USOPC before later calling for the Footage of the incident shows Floyd, an African-American, organisation to publicly apologise to her. pleading with police that he was unable to breathe as Chauvin “I want an apology letter...mailed...just like you and the IOC knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes, even after Floyd (International Olympic Committee) MAILED ME WHEN YOU PUT lost consciousness. ME ON PROBATION,” Berry, who represented the US at Rio 2016, Three other police officers who were also present have been said in response to Hirshland tweeting her letter to athletes. fired. “Stop playing with me.” Floyd’s death has led to a renewed focus on the Black Lives After US Olympic and Paralympic Committee addressed the Matter movement, which campaigns against violence and systemic #GeorgeFloydProtests, Gwen Berry(@MzBerryThrows) demanded racism towards black people. a written apology from the organisation for their behaviour over TAFWA Newsletter - Page 11 - July 2020 IOC Coordination Commission and Paris 2024 agree to examine new Games delivery opportunities The International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Coordination Commission for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 met today (3 June 2020) by video-conference with the Paris 2024 Organising Committee and its partners, including representatives from the City of Paris, the Métropole du Grand Paris, Département de la Seine-Saint-Denis, Région Ile de and the French Olympic and Paralympic Commit- tees.

The meeting was held virtually due to the current COVID-19 situation, with members of the Commission expressing their sympathies for the considerable challenges faced by the French population over the past few months.

Since the candidature, the Paris 2024 Games preparations have been innovative and responsible. The presentations made by the Paris team to the Commission reaffirmed their commitment to this strategy as the first Organising Committee to fully implement the measures outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020 and its New Norm. They also acknowledged a shift in approach in recent months, given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This new approach is inspired by the recent letter from the IOC President, which was then echoed in the message from Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet to all Paris 2024 stakeholders, that called for creative and sustainable optimisations in the context of the Olympic and . The Coordination Commission fully supported this vision and committed to working closely with the organisers to achieve this ambition.

An example of the positive outcome that has already been delivered through close collaboration amongst delivery partners was the reduction in the number of beds required in the Olympic and Paralympic Village from just over 17,000 to approximately 14,000. This en- sures that the Village is fitted to the needs of the athletes and National Olympic Committees, while controlling the amount of investment required and still leaving an important housing legacy for the Seine-Saint-Denis area of Paris. It has also been visible in the optimisation of the Aquatic Centre concept.

The enhanced Games delivery strategy will involve building on the work already completed, adapting plans and considering many of the developments being used to optimise the postponed Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Speaking after the update, IOC Coordination Commission Chair Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant said: “The COVID-19 situation has impacted everyone around the world, and our sincere thoughts are with all those affected, particularly in France, which has been hit hard. This makes Paris 2024’s continued progress over the past few months incredibly inspiring.

“Paris continues to illustrate its determination to deliver an innovative and responsible new for the organisation of the Games. The postponement of Tokyo 2020 to 2021 and the call from our President to look to ‘further strengthen the sustainability and feasibility reforms of Olympic Agenda 2020 with a new phase of the New Norm’ provide the impetus for all stakeholders to take that ambition even further. We look forward to exploring more opportunities and breaking new ground in preparing Games for the future.”

Paris 2024 President Estanguet said: “The Coordination Commission meeting is always a privileged time with Commission members. This moment of exchange allows us to present our latest advances, to challenge and enrich our project in contact with experienced Com- mission members. Despite the current context, it was important for us to maintain this time of exchange in order to present the latest advances in our project.

“From the start, our common purpose has been to create the Games of a new era: Games that are responsible, sustainable, socially conscious, and open for everyone to take part. The current context and the unprecedented crisis we are experiencing means we need to go even further in the directions we chose together. We are pleased to know that we can once again count on the support of the IOC and IPC and the members of the Coordination Commission in the construction of a new model of Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

During the meetings, Paris 2024 reiterated its focus on delivering its Olympic and Paralympic Games according to the agreed schedule of 26 July to 11 August 2024 and 28 August to 8 September 2024 respectively. It also outlined the progress made since the last Coordina- tion Commission meeting in June 2019 and provided an insight into its plans for the upcoming months.

In addition, the Commission was updated on the status of Games-related construction projects. The Commission congratulated Paris and its partners on the recent awarding of contracts for two Olympic venues in recent weeks, and the start of demolition works on the site of the Olympic and Paralympic Village.

The Olympic Aquatics Centre will leave a long-lasting impact on the Seine-Saint-Denis community. The state-of-the-art sustainable building will provide increased swimming and leisure opportunities for the local community, helping to deliver on Paris’ commitment to leave infrastructure that will help to improve swimming proficiency in an area where only half of local children know how to swim.

The construction of the Arena La Chapelle building, which was also recently announced by the City of Paris, will also help rejuvenate part of the city, providing the Porte de la Chapelle neighbourhood with a multi-use sports facility for the community to use for many years to come.

Paris 2024 also covered the status of the Paralympic Games, the progress of a number of other venues, the unveiling of Paris’ new em- blem, the launch of the Terre de Jeux 2024 initiative and the Club 2024 project, as well as giving updates on its legacy and sustainability plans. TAFWA Newsletter - Page 12 - July 2020 Celebrating A Century of NCAA Track & Field Championships http://www.ustfccca.org/2020/05/featured/celebrating-a-century-of-ncaa-track-field-championships The USTFCCCA and collegiate track & field will join together to mark a momentous milestone in the spring of 2021 — the 100th an- niversary of the staging of champi- onships in the NCAA and with that, the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. This point can’t be emphasized enough: Not only was the event the first for NCAA track & field, but the first championships for any sport under the sponsorship of the NCAA. It was June 1921 when the Univer- sity of Chicago hosted the first track & field championships in NCAA history. In celebration of this upcoming landmark, over each of the next ling content over the next year’s time is to not only highlight the 365 days, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches As- incredible moments that have occured, but also to demonstrate sociation (USTFCCCA) will present moments and feature student- the importance of collegiate track & field to the sport, collegiate athletes and coaches that have made a century’s worth of champi- athletics, and society as a whole. The championships have evolved, onships special. From humble beginnings to important historical weathered ups-and-downs, but has always served as a model of milestones to the modern-day, collegiate track & field has evolved future progress, inclusion, and a template for showcasing student- with the American society. athlete excellence and experience through athletics.” Each day, a new moment, tidbit, or spotlight will be added to an The 2021 edition of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field ongoing blog at USTFCCCA.org and featured on the Association’s Championships begin with preliminary round action on May 27- social media. The first feature appreaded on May 27, with a synop- 29 in Jacksonville, Fla., and College Station, Texas. The champi- sis of the first-edition, 1921 championships. onships final site and culmination of the celebration is slated for “We celebrate where we’ve been and where we are going,” said June 9-12, 2021 at the newly rebuilt Hayward Field in Eugene, USTFCCCA CEO Sam Seemes. “Our aim in delivering this compel- Ore. With or Without the Say of Players, College Football Moves Toward a Return https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/sports/ncaafootball/coronavirus-college-football.html?action=click&module=Sp otlight&pgtype=Homepage

TAFWA Newsletter - Page 13 - July 2020 1933 LSU Track Team Stuns Nation Vaulting to glory at one historic meet By Ruth Laney | Country Road Magazine | https://countryroadsmagazine.com/art-and-culture/people-places/1933-lsu-track-team-stuns-nation/ stood beneath the crossbar, eyeing his vaulting pole, which was a good foot shorter than the height he had to vault. Fans urged him to use a longer pole, but the LSU athlete paid them no mind as he trotted to the end of the run- way to begin his final attempt. The announcer reminded the Chicago crowd that his team’s hopes for the NCAA title rested on Gordy’s narrow shoulders. A hush fell over Soldier Field, and Gordy’s teammates clustered The 1933 team, from left to right: Head Coach Bernie Moore, Nathan “Buddy” Blair, Glenn “Slats” near the landing pit, Hardin, , Al Moreau, and Matt Gordy. hardly breathing. “Come on, Matty, you can do it,” they ing the spare on his black Plymouth was a tire cover painted whispered. with a gaudy Bengal tiger. Vaulting poles and javelins, tied Gordy paused for a moment. A breeze off Lake Michigan with ropes, rattled against the doors. “We looked like an ruffled his dark hair, and he shivered slightly in his purple advertisement for [the movie] The Grapes of Wrath,” Gordy wool uniform. later recalled. It was Saturday, June 17, 1933, the first time in its Southern Cal had traveled from on a private twelve-year history that the NCAA track meet had been railway car hooked up to the Southern Pacific train, with held at night. Chicago’s immense stadium was illuminated a porter in attendance. The team included two Olympic by new arc lights. It was nearly midnight, but few of the gold medalists. “Southern Cal always won with fourteen seven thousand spectators had left. The hottest battle ever or fifteen boys,” recalled LSU’s Nathan “Buddy” Blair, in a fought for collegiate track honors was about to be decided. 1984 interview. “They could second, third, and fourth you to The bar had just been raised to 13 feet, 11 1/16 inches, death.” an NCAA record. The winner of the vault would determine After four days and 950 miles on mostly gravel roads, the the team crown. Would it go to the University of Southern Tigers arrived in Chicago. “First thing Bernie Moore did was California, already winner of three titles in seven years? Or run a red light,” recalled hurdler Al Moreau. “Right there to LSU, competing in its first NCAA? on Michigan Avenue, a cop stopped us. Coach told him, Veteran USC coach appeared confident. ‘Hell, we’re country boys. We don’t know about red lights.’ Rivals knew him as a competitive man who “combed the The cop studied that tiger on the tire cover and said, ‘I can forty-eight states” for athletes, and sportswriters had see that.’ But we were in town for the meet, so he let us go already ceded him another victory. His vaulter without a ticket.” held the world record at 14-4 3/8. They were country boys, but wily ones. Moore was a “Ten- LSU coach Bernie Moore looked worried. Gordy had nessee possum-hunter” who would deliberately misread the never vaulted higher than 13-4 in competition. Was he in stopwatch in practice to boost a boy’s confidence. Glenn over his head? Would he choke against the West Coast star? “Slats” Hardin grew up in Greenville, Mississippi. Most of High in the stands, the chunky Moore paced frantically. the others came from small towns. A native of Just getting his athletes to the meet had been a feat for Avoyelles Parish, Moreau had spoken only French until age Moore. President Franklin Roosevelt had recently declared a six. Gordy was from Abbeville, where he had taught himself bank holiday, and many Baton Rouge accounts were frozen. to vault with a pole hacked from a stand of bamboo. Weight Scrip had replaced money on the campus. But supporters man “Baby” Jack Torrance was a beefy boy from Oak Grove, had scraped together enough cash for the boys to make the and javelin thrower Blair hailed from Sicily Island. trip. Senator Huey Long, the former governor, had vowed to Moore had squeezed ten athletes—plus coaches, luggage, make LSU a school where poor boys and girls could get an and equipment—into two cars and headed north. Decorat- education; tuition was $35 a year. Track offered no schol- TAFWA Newsletter - Page 14 - July 2020 (Clockwise from left) Jack Torrance, Glenn “Slats” Hardin, Nathan “Buddy” Blair, and Al Moreau. Photos courtesy of LSU Athletic Communications. arships, so the athletes went out for football, which did, The Bunyanesque Baby Jack, despite a terrible throwing or earned their keep with odd jobs that paid 25 cents an form, had recently put the shot nearly 53 feet. And team hour: sweeping out classrooms, delivering laundry, pruning captain Moreau had not lost a high-hurdles race all season. azaleas, milking cows for the agriculture department. They But Moore had his doubts about “Little Matt.” With his lived rent-free on the second story of the school’s gym-ar- cut-off vaulting pole and sunburned calves swathed in gauze mory sharing tiny windowless cells lit by bare bulbs. Starved bandages, Gordy was hardly a vision of athletic prowess. for daylight, they often climbed onto the tarpaper roof to At Chicago’s Del Prado Hotel, Gordy brooded in his room. sunbathe. Could he hold his own against Graber, or of Stan- Laundry facilities were scarce, so their uniforms were sel- ford, who had gone 14-1 3/4 to win the gold medal at the dom washed. Their track shoes had metal plates in the soles. 1932 Games in Los Angeles? Gordy’s musing was interrupt- They trained on a rough cinder oval in the football stadium, ed by a knock on the door: a telegram from his roommate where hurdles rested on T-shaped bars. “If you hit a hurdle, back at LSU. “Fourteen no hill to climb,” Gladstone Stewart it raised you straight up into the air,” recalled Moreau. had wired. “You are good.” Landing pits were piles of sawdust that “knocked the tar out The meet was peopled with such stars as miler Glenn of you,” said Gordy. Cunningham and the sensational sprinter . On At 5-11/129, Gordy didn’t have much weight to propel Friday, day one of the two-day meet, LSU advanced six men over the crossbar. No Southern athlete had gone much over to the Saturday finals, while Southern Cal qualified twelve. 13 feet, but he held the school record at 13-4. He studied “Team honors seem almost certain to go to the Trojans,” Yale’s vaulters and copied one of their techniques; he took a predicted Los Angeles Times writer Bill Henry. “The finals … standard 16-foot pole and chopped it down to 12 1/2 feet. promise to be another triumph for the sun-tanned western- “This is what the boys up at Yale do,” he explained to his ers,” agreed George Kirksey of the United Press. startled teammates at practice. But LSU had other ideas. Saturday night, Hardin won the Using his doctored pole, Gordy cleared 13-6 several times 440-yard dash. He came back an hour later to win the 220- by twisting his body into a handstand at the top of the arc. yard low hurdles. “This pole just seems to jackknife you over the bar,” he said. Next to make an impact was Baby Jack. “He was a giant,” After he made several decent attempts at 14 feet, Moore recalled USC’s Hueston “Hippo” Harper, the favorite in the decided to add him to the squad traveling to Chicago. . After taking an early lead, Harper was undone The team’s best hope was the handsome, curly-haired by empathy. “Torrance was only a sophomore and had not Slats, who had won silver in the 400-meter hurdles at the much experience,” said Harper. “I felt obligated to give him 1932 Olympics. His smooth style and lethal kick prompted some pointers, and lo and behold, my first place went out sportswriters to dub him “the Comet of the Canebrake.” the window.” Baby Jack quickly picked up Harper’s rotating TAFWA Newsletter - Page 15 - July 2020 technique. “Torrance, 265 pounds of Southern accent and His chopped-down pole forced Gordy to do a last-second brute force, straightened out an arm like a tree trunk and handstand, twist in midair, and hurl himself over the shoved the 16-pound shot 52 ft 10 in,” wrote Henry. Chalk crossbar. It wobbled as he nudged it with his thumb, but it up another win for the Tigers. stayed put. Sprawled in the sawdust, Gordy could only grin. Torrance placed third in the discus, and Blair took fourth He had won the meet for the Tigers! The final score was LSU in the javelin. With forty points, the Tigers were in the race. 58, USC 54. Moreau had scored a point by finishing sixth in the low Trackside typewriters clacked furiously. “A team that hurdles. For his specialty, the highs, he drew lane eight possesses an unknown boy who can turn in a ‘pressure’ next to the stadium’s box seats. Photographers clustered stunt like that deserves to win a team championship,” wrote three and four deep at each hurdle. “First hurdle, here’s a Maxwell Stiles of the Los Angeles Times. flashbulb, just like a bomb in my face,” Moreau recalled. “I People swarmed onto the field to shake Gordy’s hand. didn’t see anything from then on.” Running blind, he caught Besides snaring the team trophy, he shared a new collegiate Stanford’s Gus Meier at the third hurdle. Running neck and record with Graber. As he gathered up his gear, he noticed neck, Moreau and Meier were both timed in 14.2 seconds, his chopped-down pole was gone, picked up by a souvenir- equaling the world record. Victory went to Meier on his lean hunter. at the tape, but Moreau had added eight points to LSU’s Two weeks later, Gordy competed in the AAU meet at total. Soldier Field. He won the final competition of his career and The team battle had come down to the last attempt in the became the first Southerner to clear 14 feet. vault, the final event of the meet. It was up to Gordy and His teammates went on to greater glory. In 1934, Hardin Graber to decide who would win it. and Torrance set world records in the 400-meter hurdles Gordy cleared 13 feet and then made 13-6, his best height and the shot put that would last for nineteen and fourteen in practice. Miller missed and was out, but Graber was still years respectively. As part of the United States track team, in the fray, along with vaulters from Ohio State and Illinois. Moreau matched the world record in the high hurdles at Officials raised the bar to 13-11 1/16. Each vaulter 14.2 seconds and later became the first man to break 14 sec- missed on his first attempt. On the second try, Graber took onds at 13.9. At Berlin in 1936, Hardin won a close hurdles the lead, clearing the bar when no one else could. On their race and an Olympic gold medal. third and final attempts the Ohio and Illinois men missed. The five men who scored in the meet have become leg- Gordy was the last vaulter left, with one attempt remaining. ends in LSU history. Gordy never won a gold medal or set If he cleared the bar, he would tie Graber for first, and a world record, but he did what every athlete dreams of— they would each earn nine points. The Tigers would hold came through for his team under pressure. on to their slim margin and win the meet. If Gordy missed, Graber would win the vault and Southern Cal would tie LSU Ruth Laney, a pioneering TAFWA member, first learned of for the national title. the heroics of these athletes in 1984. By then, both Baby Jack Glancing up into the stands, Gordy spied Coach Moore Torrance (1912—69) and Slats Hardin (1910—75) had died prowling back and forth. “I was determined to go over or of heart attacks. But Al Moreau, Buddy Blair, and Matt Gordy bust,” he said later. “I saw Coach Moore pacing like a wild were still alive and could be interviewed. man. I couldn’t help laughing, and that relaxed me.” Gordy took a deep breath and sprinted down the runway. When she learned that Gordy was the only one of the five who “Gathering speed at every step,” wrote Henry, “he swung had never been inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, his slender, purple-clad body into the air, arched ever so she pointed out the oversight to a couple of sportswriters. Gordy lightly at the very top of his flight, and dropped into the pit was inducted in 1985, and Moreau and Blair were there to wit- with a tie for first place and the meet cinched for dear old ness their teammate’s joining them. Gordy died in 1989 at age LSU.” 79, Moreau in 1990 at age 80, and Blair in 1996 at age 85.

Guidance For Opening Up High School Athletics And Activities National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) https://www.nfhs.org/media/3812287/2020-nfhs-guidance-for-opening-up-high-school-athletics-and-activi- ties-nfhs-smac-may-15_2020-final.pdf

The ol’ switcheroo: MHSAA could switch seasons amid pandemic https://www.cadillacnews.com/sports/the-ol-switcheroo-mhsaa-could-switch-seasons-amid-pandemic/ article_63b25edf-9f27-5c2b-8991-0cac08245bb7.html

TAFWA Newsletter - Page 16 - July 2020 Catching Up With ... Jodee Adams-Moore By Justin Mock | I Run Far | https://www.irunfar.com/2020/05/catching-up-with-jodee-adams-moore.html Jodee Adams-Moore is explaining pottery to me when her three-year-old son Oro pipes in. “Hiiiiii,” he says over and over before running back to the trampoline. “September 6, 2017,” she says without pause, recounting her son’s birth date. “Two weeks early and on a full moon, like me.” Her mother’s love shines in her voice, and she’s infinitely proud. Oro of course is Spanish for ‘gold,’ and Adams-Moore explains the name. “It conjures up sunshine, golden sunshine. I had a dream years before and woke up with tears of joy. There was a big, happy, smiling baby look- ing at me. It was a really powerful dream. And when I got pregnant, I thought about that dream and it seemed like the name fit.” She loves the palindrome too. Adams-Moore and her son live in a converted 30-foot Blue Bird school bus in rural Washington state. Her long- time running companion Pablo and a second aging dog, Cedar, are there too. “They kick it on the bus,” she says of the dogs. There are three cats at her friend’s house on the same land, and Adams-Moore’s pottery studio is there too. It’s in a space that was a whiskey still during prohibition, and some leftovers from the still are in the nearby creek. She bought the bus when pregnant and it fits her life- style. She’s outdoors a lot. The bus–a 2002 flat nose, she explains, which makes for more living space–has bamboo Jodee Adams-Moore on her way to taking fourth at the floors and a “little wood stove from .” Adams-Moore 2014 Lake Sonoma 50 Mile. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks talks about the wood stove like a pet, but wishes it fit larger She’s incredibly passionate about pottery now, and works logs. The bus has been driven to visit her family on the on the craft four to five days per week. “Once you get going, Central California coast and back. She’s between the towns and you’ve got pieces in different stages–design, trimming, of Acme and Sedro-Woolley, Washington now, and near a big day of glazing,” she tries to explain the frequency to the Samish River. “I’ve always lived within 30 minutes of a me. “I take pieces down to [the town of] Arlington to glaze good-sized town, and thought that I had to, but I probably and fire, every day doing something.” I ask a lot of ques- don’t now,” she says of their remoteness. tions, trying to understand the process, and she answers Adams-Moore came into her own in the Pacific North- with an eye and ear on her playing son. west trail running and then ultrarunning scene circa 2011 Each piece starts from a 25-pound bag of clay, purchased and 2012. In 2013, she started competing outside the in either Seattle or Tacoma. She breaks it down, “you work region with success. The year 2014 saw her take her rac- the clay, getting it pliable, in alignment, and the initial ing abroad, too, and in the span of a quarter year, she won wheel throwing takes just five to eight minutes.” She’ll the Moab Red Hot 55k, was fourth at the Lake Sonoma 50 typically do six to eight pieces at a time. Once the piece is Mile, and then sixth at the Transvulcania Ultramarathon. In thrown–that is, the shaping of the clay on the wheel–she’ll 2016 and again in the span of three months, she won Gorge trim the bases and add her individual signature, a little swirl Waterfalls 100k, took 10th at Transvulcania, and was ninth on the inside and outside of the base. at the Western States 100. Adams-Moore does high-fired pottery, and her friend’s kiln races to 2,345 degrees Fahrenheit. High-fired pottery is harder, like porcelain, as compared to low-fired pottery, like earthenware. It takes a day for the propane-fueled kiln–big enough to walk into–to reach that temperature, and the glazes that hot are more rich and the results sometimes sur- prising. An anticipated red might finish white, or vice versa, and that’s part of the fun. “My designs are super unique, naturey, flowery,” she says. “I love every step (of pottery) and every step is different.” She sells the work under her Bat Cave Pottery brand, named for her former studio. It wasn’t a bat cave itself, but the “shack was covered in bat shit,” she says without apol- ogy. The name is also a play on the flat discs that run on a pottery wheel, bats. She’s sold a lot of pottery around the holidays for the last 10 years, and at a few retailers–”The Lucky Dumpster” Examples of her pottery. TAFWA Newsletter - Page 17 - July 2020 in Edison, Washington, for one–and at pop-up markets in Somehow we move to diet, and I briefly reference a deep Bellingham too. “I like to get out, but it’s hard to get out 2013 interview she did here on iRunFar with Robbie Law- with a bunch of pottery,” Adams-Moore says. “When social less. “I’m heavily vegetarian leaning, I eat pretty well. As distancing is done, I’d like to do some pop-ups in Belling- with everything though, I don’t have strict rules. I’ll eat ham in my van. It’s a pretty van,” she cheers with a nod to McDonald’s ice cream if I want to, but I get good veggies the classic Mitsubishi Delica. and eat healthy overall.” “Don’t dig in that area!” Adams-Moore softly interjects Adams-Moore still runs too, it’s just different. A day-ago to son Oro. He’s playing outside and digging in a dirt pile memory flickers and she grows excited. “There aren’t a lot of toward an area of new plants. He spends a lot of time out- public trails here, but there are logging roads,” she sets the side too. He’s three, and I have a two-year-old son and we do backdrop. She was pushing the Bob stroller and came on a a quick potty-training check-in. Her son was impressively new trail. Convinced that it would go to the Samish River, peeing standing up against a stump outside at one year. she went exploring with Oro. It did go to the river. “It was Time outside dominates, but they have an iPad and have the most beautiful river oasis.” It’s a simple story, but she’s their screen-time battles too. “We like Blippi,” she says, and jazzed about her find and excited for more time outside. I laugh. My son likes Blippi too, but the YouTube character grates me. Article via Alison Wade’s Fast Women Newsletter Central Michigan track athletes: We were ‘blindsided’ by program cuts By Evan Petzold | Detroit Free Press | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2020/05/23/central- michigan-track-and-field-cuts/5250228002/ Jack Dodge woke up at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday to a frantic phone call from his uncle. “Did you see the news?” he asked. Dodge was confused. The night before, with the exception of the coro- navirus pandemic that has kept the Central Michigan track athlete locked inside his Walled Lake home, everything was normal. He had healthy loved ones, and one of his assistant coaches at CMU was sending goofy GIFs over text messages. “Look at the article I sent you,” his uncle said. Central Michigan sprinter Jack Dodge runs at the Mid-American Confer- ence indoor championships One of the hurdles used by Central Michigan’s track and field program sits underneath bleach- on Feb. 29, 2019, in Akron, ers at Alumni Field at on CMU’s campus. CMU disbanded its indoor and outdoor men’s track and Ohio. field programs on May 19. (Photo: Isaac Ritchey/Special to Detroit Free Press) In a pandemic that has shut down sports across the nation sports had been discontinued, including three at CMU. And and led some athletic departments to the brink of a financial each of them expressed frustration, anxiety and shock at the crisis, Central Michigan became the latest university to disband news. an athletic program when it canned its indoor and outdoor “The emotions I was going through, I didn’t want to talk to men’s track and field programs. anybody,” Dodge said. “To wake up this morning and get the “I couldn’t believe what I was reading, like there’s no way news they’re cutting your sport, it feels like a part of you is be- this was real,” Dodge told the Free Press on Tuesday. “I broke ing ripped out. It’s an irreplaceable feeling.” down. My mom and I broke down.” ‘It all happened so fast’ CMU expects to save $300,000 immediately and $620,000 The novel coronavirus has been an unforgiving threat, and annually by cutting men’s track and field. But the savings are one of its consequences has been the way in which we connect. minute compared to the big money involved in Division I Zoom calls have replaced in-person team meetings and more sports. The move could jeopardize CMU’s FBS membership, the routine scheduling, which can intensify the shock value when top rung of college football. But most importantly, the effect life-changing news occurs. on student-athletes could be permanent. Take Jenny Swieton, CMU’s director of track and field and The Free Press reached out to four Division I athletes whose cross country; she found out her program was being cut at 9 TAFWA Newsletter - Page 18 - July 2020 a.m., one hour before she addressed her team in a Zoom call ships across its roster — could “backfire and hurt the overall with athletic director Michael Alford. university enrollment-wise” as schools lose tuition-paying Only 10 of CMU’s 36 track athletes were on the Zoom call, students. which lasted all of four minutes. The others, like Dodge, heard “Dropping these sports, you’re likely losing bodies, and the information second-hand. that counts against your overall enrollment,” Ridpath told the “(Swieton’s) face was red, her eyes were super puffy,” said Bridgewater Courier News in New Jersey. “Enrollment is going Parker Aerts, a sophomore sprinter/hurdler from Muskegon. down nationwide and (colleges cutting sports) are not really “I know her face when she has bad news. (Alford’s) face was looking at the whole picture here.” pretty red. It was quick and simple. She started crying before CMU’s enrollment had already dropped 10.5% from 2018 to she could even speak, then said, ‘I’m sorry everyone. I tried so 2019. And considering CMU’s athletic department isn’t self- hard for this not to happen.’ She had no idea this was even go- sustaining — $25.2 million of its $33.6 million budget came ing on. It all happened so fast.” from university funds last year, records show — Alford felt Sprinter/hurdler Jackson Blanchard missed the call, as he he had no choice but to end CMU’s indoor and outdoor track was at work in Houghton Lake putting in seawalls to save for programs after telling the Free Press in April he hoped to avoid the tuition that isn’t covered by his scholarship. any cuts. He checked his phone during his break at 10:41 a.m. and saw “The declining enrollment impacts our financial bottom,” a slew of text messages, one of which asked if he was transfer- Alford said this week. “We are facing additional financial chal- ring. A link to the story was included. lenges. When I looked at the different models, probably six or “I was like, ‘What the heck?’ ” Blanchard said. “I checked my seven, trying to make it work, it’s just impossible to make it email, and I missed the Zoom meeting. I was shocked because I work without this reduction.” heard from my friend. I didn’t know this was coming. It blind- sided me, blindsided all of us.” ‘I’m not going to settle’ He said the rest of the workday, which lasted until 4:30 p.m., Once a team gets slashed, everyone has the same question: was the longest of his life. He moped around, couldn’t focus What’s next? Most everyone wants to continue competing, and felt the life being sucked out of him. He compared it to pil- but the NCAA’s decision to extend eligibility of seniors whose ing a lifetime of depressed feelings into one day. final season was cut short by the pandemic likely complicates The feeling seems universal. matters. At Bowling Green, former L’Anse Creuse pitcher Jeremy Spe- Programs, including CMU, are honoring scholarships for zia got an invitation May 13 to a next-day video meeting. That students who stay. Those who want to transfer won’t have to wasn’t surprising; weekly meetings had been a constant for the sit out a season. But not everyone will find a perfect fit, and baseball team throughout the pandemic. But it was stunning some careers will end. Coaches might never call. Some schools when athletic director Bob Moosbrugger emerged on screen may not have the desired major. Others won’t get what they and said 34 players, two full-time coaches and one part-time need financially from scholarships. assistant were being cut to save $500,000 annually. For Dodge, a lesser scholarship would be a deal-breaker. He “It broke my heart,” Spezia said. was on a 50% scholarship as a freshman and sophomore but Aerts feels the same way. got bumped up to 80% for his junior year. CMU’s cost of at- “I was numb that whole first day,” Aerts said. “The next day, tendance is $24,288. I got upset. The amount of money wasn’t worth hurting 36 He needs security, and he says his next move will be a finan- athletes and two coaches (who also were cut). The amount of cial one. money wasn’t worth that. I’m very upset.” “If they can match or better what I’m getting from Central, I’ll take it, or at least take it into consideration,” Dodge said. ‘Impossible to make it work’ “But I’m not going to settle for some half-ass scholarship and All but three of the 15 programs that have reportedly been go into debt when I graduate when I know I won’t be in debt eliminated at Division I colleges, including Cincinnati, Old out of Central. It just depends on what I can get from other Dominion, Akron, East Carolina and Florida International, schools.” are men’s sports. Those are often the first to be trimmed as Spezia already has heard from coaches who said they are schools, especially those with football programs, strive to willing to match, or at least come close to matching, his schol- comply with Title IX, the federal law requiring gender equity arship, but some out-of-state schools won’t be able to do so. for participation and scholarship opportunities. If he can’t land somewhere affordable, he’s not sure what his According to the latest data, 499,217 students, many of future holds. whom weren’t’; on scholarship, participated in NCAA cham- “I had it pretty good (at Bowling Green),” Spezia said. “I was pionship sports across all three divisions during the 2018-19 out-of-state at BG, and that’s where they get you — out-of- academic year. state tuition. Some of the schools I’ve talked to in-state, it’d be The Intercollegiate Coach Association Coalition reported more realistic. The out-of-state ones can get pricey. For some, I more than 28% — 141,483 — participated in Division I non- can’t do that. I don’t want to graduate with hundreds of thou- revenue sports, generating $3.6 billion in tuition and fees for sands of dollars in student loans.” their universities. That’s an amount the coalition says is nearly Dodge summed it up this way: equal to the total expense of providing playing opportunities “I don’t want to leave it; I don’t know if I’m going to leave it for those students. or not,” Dodge said. “It’s still a decision to make, obviously, but B. David Ridpath, associate professor of sports business at that’s going to be the toughest part – leaving everything I’ve Ohio University and interim president of the Drake Group, a built. Restarting somewhere else is sad to think of. national nonprofit advocacy organization, said he believes a “They’re not going to take anything else away. We can only college’s decision to eliminate nonrevenue sports — such as go up from here, so it’s important to take advantage of every- track and field, which at CMU spreads a total of 12.6 scholar- thing we can right now.”

TAFWA Newsletter - Page 19 - July 2020 Unique Anytime 5k Is More Than A Virtual Race By David Monti, @d9monti

If you drove past the headquarters of Millennium Running in Bedford, N.H., recently you might have noticed a road race finish structure in the parking lot. Sheathed with black panels and bearing the name “Anytime 5K” across the top, you could be forgiven if you thought that in-person road races as we used to know then before the COVID-19 pandemic struck were back.

Well they are, sort of.

The Anytime 5K is indeed an in-person road race held on a locally-permitted, well-marked course which has fully auto- matic chip timing. The twist is that it has a unique “start as you please” format allowing runners to compete any time they want (literally day or night) from May 16 through August 23. Runners get a bib with a timing chip, and their results get posted to a live, web-based leaderboard. Unlike the typical approach with virtual races, runners don’t need to use a GPS- enabled device to record their distance and time. And because the event is held on a real road-racing course, athletes can even get a classic finish photo as they pass through the finish structure (if they can convince a friend or family member to come along and take one). Think of it as a self-service road race.

“I think we’re all forced to think outside the box a little bit,” said Millennium Running founder John Mortimer whose company produces 25 events each year and provides timing services for another 130 in addition to being a running retail store. “We have seven full-time people who work in that space. I think when you put people’s brain power together, cre- ativity together, and are forced to think about our industry differently they come up with some pretty creative solutions.”

To register for the event, runners need to pay an entry fee to get a physical bib with a timing chip. Participants can buy as many bibs as they like, and enter the race multiple times during the racing period (each bib is good for only one course attempt).

When they decide to race, athletes approach the start area in the parking lot and a 24/7 chip reader beaming from inside the store picks up their starting time. The course itself has a two-loop, counter-clockwise configuration that Mortimer, a former elite steeplechaser, measured which allows runners to move safely on a sidewalk or the side of the road with no traffic crossings. There is a brand new, greenway-buffered sidewalk on Route 101 in front of Millennium’s headquarters on which athletes run for nearly a mile before making the first left turn on Bell Hill Road. There are only two more left turns to complete each of the two laps. “We live in a very rural community,” Mortimer stressed in a telephone interview with Race Results Weekly. “Not a high- traffic zone.” Because the staging area for the event is on Millennium’s own property, they were able to use their own in-house equip- ment without the worry of bringing it to a public place, like a park or city center, where it would have to sit outside unat- tended, potentially vulnerable to damage or theft.

“We’re able to use the timing technology we have; we wired it into the building,” Mortimer explained. “(We) use our antennas and MYLAPS timing equipment permanently plugged-in in our building safe and secure. We have all of this work on our wi-fi and live to the web. So, we had some logistical advantages and the space to do that.” He added: “The town cooperated with us very easily.” To help avoid “consumer driven mistakes,” as Mortimer called them, in the timing, the Millennium team set up a bar- ricaded chute at the start to guide runners to the correct starting point where the MYLAPS antenna can get a clean chip reading. Similarly, the lead-in to the finish is also barricaded to guide runners through the parking lot to the finish line. “We made it pretty foolproof,” Mortimer said.

Runners can choose to run with a few friends or family members, but must maintain a 6-foot (about 2-meter) distance between them. According to the guidance* given by the New Hampshire state government, “sporting events will be limited to small group or team-based training activities,” and “group size is to be limited to 10 total people.” Mortimer doesn’t see that as a problem. “What we’ve asked people to do is just come when you’re ready,” said Mortimer. “If there’s people there, just wait in your car and let those people go. It’s not like we’ll have thousands of people at this point.” Typical road race amenities like T-shirts, medals, fluid stations, goody bags, and portable toilets are not provided. But, at only $10 the Anytime 5K entry fee is still a great value. In the first eight days about 350 people have signed up for the race, and 62 runners have completed the course according to the official results at millenniumrunning.com. At the top of the leaderboard is Mortimer’s wife, Jen, who ran 18:56 on the very first day.

“She’s pretty fast,” said Mortimer of his wife, the former Jennifer Kramer who ran a 5000-meter personal best of 15:47.83 back in 2004 when she competed for Boston College “She’s still got some wheels.” TAFWA Newsletter - Page 20 - July 2020 Men’s track, field and cross country reinstated as varsity sports By Li Goldstein | Brown Daily Herald | https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/06/09/mens-track- field-cross-country-reinstated-varsity-sports/ The men’s track, field and cross country teams have been reinstated to the varsity roster, a reversal of their recent demo- tion to the club level, President Christina Paxson P’19 wrote in a community-wide email Tuesday night. The other eight teams that were demoted as part of the Excellence in Brown Athletics Initiative will retain their new club status. Paxson wrote that the University chose to reinstate men’s track, field and cross country partially in response to feed- back about how cutting the three teams would “have real and lasting implications for efforts to build and sustain diverse and inclusive communities for our students at Brown, and particularly our community of Black students and alumni.” The adverse effects the cuts would have had on the women’s track, field and cross country teams also factored into the decision to reinstate the three men’s teams, she added. In order to comply with Title IX regulations and a 1998 legal settlement unique to Brown, changes to varsity roster sizes will need to be evaluated in the coming year, Paxson wrote. “The reinstatement of men’s track, field and cross country will have implications for the squad sizes of Brown’s varsity teams,” Paxson wrote. “However, we have determined that with some modifications, Brown will be able to remain in com- pliance with the requirements of the legal settlement and with Title IX for the time being.” After Paxson announced the Excellence in Brown Athletics Initiative May 28 and the demotion of men’s and women’s , men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s squash, women’s skiing, women’s equestrian and men’s track, field and cross country, athletes from each team jumped into action to petition for their varsity status to be reinstated. A peti- tion specific to reinstating men’s track, field and cross country teams garnered almost 50,000 signatures at press time. As members of a particularly diverse team within Brown athletics, athletes argued the team’s demotion would negatively impact representation of athletes of color across the entire varsity roster, The Herald previously reported. “The original revised roster of varsity sports maintained Brown’s overall diversity in varsity athletics, but we now more fully appreciate the consequences of eliminating men’s track, field and cross country for Black students in our community and among our extended community of Black alumni,” Paxson wrote. Brown University, If You Were Actually Serious About Racial Justice You Would Not Be Cutting the Men’s Track Team By Russell Dinkins | Medium.com | https://medium.com/@dancingdinks/brown-university-if-you-were-actually- serious-about-racial-justice-you-would-not-be-cutting-the-d9e698b707e1 Recently Brown University, like every other institution or company as of late, released a statement in support of confronting racial injustice in response to the national outcry from the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery — all unarmed Black people killed by the police or by racial vigilantes. In their statement, Brown noted that “structures of power and deep-rooted oppression” were at work and that the university would commit to “advancing knowledge and promoting essential change in policy and practice in the name of equity and justice” moving for- ward. Just a few days earlier, however, Brown announced that they were cutting a number of sports including Men’s Track and Field. They noted that their decision was a part of an effort to improve competitiveness and to align with their mission to increase diversity on teams. Increasing diversity by cutting Men’s Track, one of the most diverse teams on any college campus? Give me a break. You cannot address racial injustice without addressing socioeconomic and educational injustice. The legacy of slavery is directly re- sponsible for the disproportionally low-income and low educational attainment of Black Americans to this day. Elite institutions such as Brown offer opportunities for upward mobil- ity for low-income individuals, and sports, in particular, provide a distinct pathway to an elite education. However affluent sports are over-represented at elite universities and 65% of Ivy League athletes are white. This makes Brown’s decision to cut Men’s Track all the more problematic: Brown is cut- ting one of its few truly diverse sports while still keeping many of its affluent sports on the table. Brown’s track team has more Black males than their Lacrosse, Baseball, Ice Hockey and Crew teams combined. Some of those teams do not have a single Black student on their rosters. Track has eleven. Brown is cutting one of its few truly diverse sports while still keeping many of its affluent sports on the table…By cutting Track and Field, TAFWA Newsletter - Page 21 - July 2020 Brown is literally taking away admissions opportunities for Black male athletes while preserving admission opportunities for white athletes in affluent sports. By cutting Track and Field, Brown is literally taking away admissions opportunities for Black male athletes while pre- serving admission opportunities for white athletes in affluent sports. And to add insult to injury, sailing is being elevated to varsity while track will be reduced to a club team with no recruiting slots. Brown should be finding more opportunities for Black Men to go to Brown, not fewer. This is not meant to disparage any of these other teams but the structural reality is that sports like Lacrosse and Ice Hockey are only really accessible for those with high income or class positions. These are rich sports that are prohibitively expensive for most American families. And the historical re- alities of the US means that most Black people in this country are not in the income or class position to participate in these sports. These sports will still have admissions spots for Brown for the Fall of 2021. Men’s track will not. Track and Field is one of the most egalitarian sports in terms of cost and accessibility. It’s a cheap sport, especially at the youth level — it doesn’t cost a lot in terms of equipment, facilities or training in order to participate. In fact, Track and Field was the least expensive of the 21 youth sports evaluated by the Aspen Institute, costing families an average of $191 per year. Hockey and Lacrosse were among the most expen- sive at $2,583 and $1,289 respectively. Even non-elite sports like Soccer and Baseball can be quite comparatively expensive. It’s also an accessible sport as over 1 million high school boys and girls participate in Track and Field each year. You don’t need fancy facilities to participate: all you need to be successful in Track and Field are some running shoes, a place to run, talent, willpower, and some guidance. And you don’t need to attend expensive sports camps or make professionally produced highlight reels to promote your- self. A fast time and a far jump or throw is just as good at a small private school track meet as it would be at a national championship. If the mark is elite, and there’s electronic timing, that’s good enough to get you noticed as a high school athlete. That’s good enough for you to get recruited. Digging deeper, Ivy League institutions do not have large Black student populations and amongst their Black student populations, first-generation students and the children of immigrants are overrepresented while the descendants of American slaves are underrepre- sented. All Black students are valuable and deserve a place at elite universities, however, universities such as Brown, who have directly benefited from American slavery, have an obligation to right a historic wrong and provide opportunities for qualified, talented descen- dants of American slavery. Brown’s decision to cut Track and Field just took 11 of those opportunities away. Brown’s rhetoric doesn’t match their actions. If Brown is really committed to confronting racial injustice, they would start by redou- bling their efforts to afford access to talented Black Men and Women. And that starts by reinstating Men’s Track and Field. There are Title IX requirements that must be figured out, and budgets will have to be reconfigured but Brown has the ability to figure this out. Don’t say you’re in support of Black Lives and addressing the institutional inequities that affect Black Americans while at the same time helping to enshrine income and class disparities by giving more opportunities for those in affluent sports and increasing your number of White male varsity athletes and decreasing the number of Black male varsity athletes on your campus. Talk is cheap. Brown, do the work. Fix this now. Reinstate Men’s Track!

Over 60,000 Urge Brown University to Reinstate Varsity Programs Cut - Men’s Track Leads Way https://www.golocalprov.com/sports/new-over-60000-urge-brown-university-to-reinstate-varsity-programs-cut-mens

Brown Cuts 11 Varsity Sports: Men’s Track & Cross Country Among Programs Eliminated in Restructuring

https://www.golocalprov.com/sports/brown-cuts-11-varsity-sports-mens-track-and-cross-country-among-eliminated

TAFWA Newsletter - Page 22 - July 2020 2020 Fixtures List Collegiate Sept. 13 Fifth Avenue Mile, NYC April Sept. 14 Boston Marathon CANCELED 22-25 Drake Relays, Des Moines POSTPONED Sept. 27 Berlin Marathon CANCELED 23-25 Penn Relays, Philadelphia POSTPONED Oct. 4 London Marathon NEW DATE Oct. 11 Chicago Marathon July Nov. 1 NYC Marathon CANCELED 11-16 Ironwood Throws, Coeur d’Alene (online only) 18 New Jersey International, Holmdel 2021 31-Aug 1 American JavFest, East Stroudsburg, Pa. February 20-21 USATF Indoor Nationals, site TBA November 20 NAIA Nationals - Cedar Rapids, Iowa March 21 XC Nationals 12-13 NCAA Indoor Nationals Stillwater (I), Evansville (II), Terre Haute (III) Fayetteville (I), (II) Geneva, Ohio (III) 19-21 World Indoor, Nanjing High School 20 World Cross Country, Bathurst, Australia April 10-13 Carifta Games, Bermuda POSTPONED 24-27 Texas Relays, Austin New dates July 30-Aug 2 NSAF Nationals (Cancelled) April National/International 22-24 Penn Relays, Philadelphia Drake Relays, Des Moines June 12-14 USATF Junior Nationals, Miramar, Fla. CANCELED May 19-28 US Olympic Trials, Eugene POSTPONED TO 2021 1-2 World Relays, Chorzow, Poland 23 Boston Boost Games July 26-28 NAIA Nationals - Gulf Shores, Ala. 4 London DL CANCELED 27-29 NCAA II-III Nationals 9 Weltklasse Inspiration Games, Zurich & 5 locations Allendale, Mich. (II), Greensboro, NC (III) 7-12 World Juniors, Nairobi POSTPONED Div. I Regionals 20-Aug 1 World Masters, CANCELED Jacksonville, Fla. (E), Texas A&M (W) July 24-Aug 9 Olympic Games, Tokyo POSTPONED TO 2021 June August 9-12 NCAA Div. I Nationals, Eugene 11-12 Nurmi Games, Turku, Finland 18-27 Olympic Trials, Eugene Rescheduled from June 9 25 TAFWA Awards Breakfast, Gerlinger Hall 9 AM 14 Herculis DL, Monaco Rescheduled from July 9-10 July-August 16 Gateshead DL CANCELED 23-Aug 8 Olympic Games, Tokyo 23 Bauhaus DL, Stockholm Rescheduled from May 24 August 26-30 European Championships, Paris CANCELED 18-29 World University Games, Chendgu,

September September 2 Athletissima, Lausanne Diamond League Finals, Zurich Rescheduled from August 20 November 4 Van Damme DL, Brussels 20 NCAA XC - Tallahassee (I), Tampa (II), Louisville (III) 6 Paris DL CANCELED 8 Ostrava Golden Spike 2022 Rescheduled from May 22 March 9-11 Weltklasse DL Final, Zurich See July 9 11-12 NCAA Indoor Nationals 12 Jamaica International, Kingston Birmingham (I), Pittsburg, Kan. (II), Boston (III) Rescheduled from June 13 Gateshead DL Rescheduled from August 16 June 13 ISTAF, Berlin CANCELED 8-11 NCAA Div. I Nationals, Eugene 15 Hanzekovica, Zagreb 17 Golden Globe Rome/Naples DL July Rescheduled from May 28 15-24 World Championships, Eugene 19 DL 27- Aug. 7 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham, England Rescheduled from May 16 19-20 Decastar, Talence August 11-21 European Championships, Munich October 4 Prefontaine Classic, Eugene CANCELED September 9 DL Diamond League Finals, Zurich 17 China DL, site TBA October Roads 22 - Nov. 9 Youth Olympics, Dakar, Senegal June 18-20 Armory Indoor Marathon, NYC POSTPONED to Autumn TAFWA Newsletter - Page 23 - July 2020