Gophers Will Move Forward Without Indoor Track, Along With Tennis and Gymnastics

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

On Friday in Minneapolis, the Board of Regents at the University of Minnesota rerversed course and kept the men's track and field program alive, according to the Star-Tribune. 

That's the good news. At the same meeting, the group eliminated indoor track, which will weaken the program and hurt recruiting.

Back on Sept. 10, the Big Ten school announced cuts, including men's indoor and outdoor track, that would have gutted the program at the end of the 2020-21 school year. The cuts were announced by Athletic Director Mark Coyle and approved by university President Joan Gabel.

That announcement sent a chilling ripple through the college track and field community and current members of the team as well as alumni went to work trying to persuade the board to change its mind.

University announcements of athletic programs being cut has accelerated in 2020 with the financially crippling pandemic reaching well into its sixth month. 

But for now, even though the indoor portion of the program has been cut, men's outdoor track and field will press on at the university that produced two Olympians in 2016 (Ben Blankenship and Hassan Mead) and won the the NCAA Championship in 1948. The origins of the program began in 1899. 

More than 25,000 people signed an online petition at change.org to reinstate the program.