The College of William & Mary announced Thursday afternoon that it will be discontinuing the men's indoor and outdoor track programs effective at the start of the 2021-22 academic year. These two sports join five other programs that have been cut from their current roster of 23 varsity sports.
The drive for this change was stated as being financial in nature and its move will supposedly save William & Mary over 3.5 million dollars annually or 12% of its athletic budget.
This change now is a huge shock to the Virginia track & field community and have other college coaches nervous and worried if their programs are next, especially since W&M was an absolute powerhouse in the CAA for years.
Per their own (William & Mary) press release, the school will honor all scholarships through the students' intended graduation date. The school also noted that if they chose to transfer they would have the full support of the school in that matter as well.
Along with their men's and women's teams both being solid programs, the programs have a great and fairly new track surface at Zable Stadium. That track plays host to one of the state's oldest meets as well, the Colonial Relays.
The future of the Colonial Relays has not been disclosed yet but the meet would have held its 55th annual installment had COVID-19 not cancelled it this year.
The College of William & Mary announced Thursday afternoon that it will be discontinuing the men's indoor and outdoor track programs effective at the start of the 2021-22 academic year. These two sports join five other programs that have been cut from their current roster of 23 varsity sports.
The drive for this change was stated as being financial in nature and its move will supposedly save William & Mary over 3.5 million dollars annually or 12% of its athletic budget.
