Sprinters' dreams, team cut short

By Brooke Boniface

This past week the Santa Clara sprinters received some devastating news. In the middle of their season, and without much warning, their team had been cut. For these seven individuals, many of whom have devoted the majority of their lives to track and field, the news came as a terrible blow.

"It's honestly really hard to put into words how I feel," said sophomore sprinter Kiara Herrera. "Something that we are passionate about was stripped away from us, and it's still really fresh ... this is not how we wanted our collegiate career to end."

In a meeting with the Athletic Director, the head coach of the track team, the assistant coach of the track team and the sprinting coach, the athletes were confronted with the harsh reality that there is simply not enough money to fund their endeavors.

From now on the team will be "grandfathered," meaning that any sprinters currently at Santa Clara could continue to compete at the D1 level--though possibly without a coach--but no other new runners would be joining them. In other words, once the current freshmen graduate, the Santa Clara sprinters will be a thing of the past.

Upon hearing this news, I began to question the athletic department's decision. Why should the sprinting team, which boasts two school record holders, be cut for budget reasons?

Santa Clara's total athletic expenses were nearly $13 million in 2009. Of athletic spending, much of the money goes towards the highest paid staff member at the university, men's basketball coach Kerry Keating.

In 2007, according to Santa Clara's 990 tax form, Keating made $363,863; this salary is an astounding $100,000 more than any other employee at Santa Clara, besides the women's soccer coach.

If one were to do the math, during the 2007-2008 season Keating was paid about $24,250 dollars for each of his team's 15 wins. The team finished below the .500 mark.

The operating expense for each of Santa Clara's 13 men's basketball players is over $20,000 dollars annually. This is close to five times more than the next highest operating expense, Santa Clara's baseball team.

In contrast the cross country and track teams run without a track here on campus, are one of the only D1 teams without a locker room, and have one of the lowest scholarship amounts in the WCC.

I understand the practical need to fund the basketball team, which is a high-revenue sport for the university. But it seems unfair that so much money is spent on what are basically losing programs, while other athletes are left hung out to dry.

Santa Clara must reevaluate its athletic policy here. The purpose of a university is not making money, it is educating and nurturing each and every student to their fullest potential.

Therefore, student athletes whose sports are not high revenue should be allowed to grow and excel in their fields. By favoring basketball programs, the university puts a higher value on those programs that produce money as opposed to sports which may not. This is in complete contrast to the ideals of equality and compassion, which the university claims it stands for.

At one point during the meeting, the athletic director asked the sprinters why they were running in the first place, as they do not even have a WCC championship.

"Track in the WCC is about individual betterment, you run to try and break your personal bests," notes sophomore distance runner Evan Hennessey. The sprinters worked for themselves, their team and for Santa Clara.

It doesn't matter whether there is a championship waiting for them at the end of the road, it is the journey that pushes these dedicated student athletes to compete at the highest level possible. Perhaps this is a lesson that the athletic department could learn from.

Brooke Boniface is a sophomore political science and history double major and opinion editor for The Santa Clara.