Last Friday, Saint Louis University athletic director Cheryl Levick broke news to the public on a decision over a year in the making, when she announced that men’s and women’s track and field would attain varsity status, effective immediately.

“We are very excited about the possibilities track and field has to offer. The St. Louis area has always had a rich tradition in the sport. It could bring a whole new cultural and diverse dynamic to the athletic department. There were very few negatives that came with the decision,” said Levick.

With the move, SLU will field the only Division I track program in the St. Louis metropolitan area. A surprising fact, considering that St. Louis has had strong high school and club track programs for decades. Jackie Joyner-Kersee, arguably the greatest female track athlete of all time, is a St. Louis native. Mike Nelson, who recently completed his first year on the job as the men’s and women’s cross-country coach, will lead the team. Nelson looks forward to the added pressures and responsibilities of coaching SLU’s newest team.

“It increases my workload more than double; however, it is a necessary step that we need to make, and I am ready and willing to embrace the workload to make this team better,” said Nelson.

Nelson also commented that the track team would, in turn, make the cross-country program better.

“The positives that come about from this decision are an increase in training, racing and traveling opportunities for the program. Now more than ever, athletes need to train year-round to stay competitive.”

Levick echoed Nelson’s sentiments.

“I believe we can field a good cross-country team every year in the Atlantic 10 Conference. A track team is a necessary step to ensure we can be competitive.”

But along with the excitement of a new sport comes the end of an era. In a move described as mutually exclusive from the establishment of the track and field teams, the athletic department has decided to strip both the men’s and women’s golf teams of their varsity billing. Golf will still be offered club sport at SLU.

The teams will finish out their seasons as full-fledged Division I athletic teams. This is only the second year of existence for the women’s golf team here at SLU. The men’s team dates back to the 1960s and has fielded a team every year since the mid-1980s.

“This was a very difficult decision. There were a lot of factors that were taken into account, a lot of numbers that were crunched and a lot of heated discussion. We couldn’t justify what we were spending on golf, and we decided that the right thing to do was to maximize our resources and allocate the money from golf into six other athletic programs,” said Levick.

Golfers have known of the impending decision since Feb. 24. Levick also noted that there was no correlation between Ed Schwent’s resignation on Feb. 9 as head coach of both golf teams and the decision to remove varsity distinction from the team. Schwent had been the face of SLU golf since 1998. He left SLU to become a full-time teaching pro at the Missouri Bluffs Golf Club.

Players with scholarships will still retain them for the remainder of their tenure at SLU. In addition, players will still have student athlete status for matters such as academic advising.

Moreover, the athletic department had individual meetings with all athletes to discuss issues such as scholarships, eligibility and transfer guidelines.

“We told anyone who still wanted to participate that the University would accommodate them in any way possible in regards to transferring and filling out the necessary paperwork to see that they could play as soon as possible,” said Levick.

Levick said that she has been evaluating all of the athletic programs for her year-and-a-half reign with a distinct vision in mind.

“I believe that we should offer varsity sports of interest to the undergraduate population that are not only economically feasible, but give the university a chance to succeed at the conference level, and I think track and field does all of these things.”

The decision to revamp the face of Saint Louis University athletics did not occur overnight. Levick said that she has been thinking about implementing the track team for over a year now.

She brought the idea to the provost in the fall, and when he approved it, it was only a matter of making sure the team was up to NCAA code and filing the pertinent paperwork.

As of now, the women’s team has 15 members and the men’s team has 16.The team’s inaugural foray into the likes of Division I competition will come this weekend when the team participates in the Southern Illinois Invitational in Carbondale, Ill.

“The first year we’re going to get frustrated and have our struggles, but that is the case in just about any season for any team. Our main focus is that, regardless of where we finish or what time we run, we are getting better week after week,” said Nelson.