SLIAC To Sponsor Track & Field Invitational
St. Louis, Mo. - The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) announced today that beginning this spring and continuing for at least a three-year period, it will sponsor a Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Invitational. The Invitational will be used as an evaluation technique by Conference administrators to determine the viability of adding track and field as a Championship sport in the SLIAC.
“We have discussed the addition of track and field for a couple of years now as more of our schools have started to sponsor the sport. It took some time to determine the best way to evaluate the state of our programs and the most appropriate way to bring the sport along in the Conference in terms of student-athlete experience, recruitment and development of the programs, and how to do so in the most fiscally responsible manner,” SLIAC Commissioner William J. Wolper said. “Finally, at our cross country meeting in October, the coaches threw out the idea of an Invitational rather than a Championship and put together a well designed proposal that our Administrative Council approved.”
The proposal from the coaches included conducting the SLIAC Track and Field Invitational in conjunction with a previously scheduled meet hosted by an outside institution and rescoring the Conference participants, maintaining Invitational status for three years then evaluating the state of the sport at the institutions, and gradually increasing award recognitions for student-athletes.
“We feel the steps we have taken will assist our coaches on the recruiting trail, help them maintain or continue to build the track and field programs or help those institutions that are establishing programs,” Wolper said.
Seven of the SLIAC’s nine members currently sponsor track and field – Eureka College (Eureka, Ill.), Fontbonne University (St. Louis, Mo.), Greenville College (Greenville, Ill.), Principia College (Elsah, Ill.), Spalding University (Louisville, Ky.), Webster University (St. Louis, Mo.) and Westminster College (Fulton, Mo.).
Greenville has one of the longest, and most successful, track and field histories of those seven schools. Head coach Brian Patton said about the steps the SLIAC is taking with track and field, “The kids in our program are excited about the inception of the Conference meet. They have talked about it on several occasions and have their own vision of how fast they want the meet to progress. It seems a great way to keep motivation going a month before the NCAA DIII Championships. We look forward to bringing the sport that has best represented our conference schools at the National level to the SLIAC where more student-athletes can be recognized in conference competition.”
Dave Tobey is the head coach at Westminster College, one of the newer track and field programs in the Conference. He echoed Patton’s comments about the benefits of a SLIAC Invitational, “We started our track program last year and have had several students express an interest in participating. However, they have been reluctant to participate because the only goal we can focus on is the NCAA national qualifying standards. For most of our students, this just seems out of reach. Hosting a conference meet will provide opportunities for achievement and recognition at the conference level and more students will feel like they can make a contribution to the team and institution.”
The 2010 SLIAC Track and Field Invitational will be Saturday, April 24 at the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Twilight Invitational. The Conference anticipates that event serving as the SLIAC Invitational in 2011 and 2012 as well, as most Conference programs have traditionally competed at the event and those that have not have indicated a desire to compete in the field.
Following the 2012 Invitational, administrators will re-evaluate the status of track and field at the Conference level and will decide to add a full-fledged Championship in the sport, continue it as an Invitational for another set period of time, or drop sponsorship of the sport at the Conference level (not at the institution level).
For 2010, teams and student-athletes will be competing for the distinction as the SLIAC Track and Field Invitational Champion and individual event honors. To help promote the student-athletes and assist coaches in comparing performers and determine entries into the Invitational, a Performance List will be maintained by a coach, shared through the Conference and posted on the SLIAC web site.
Beginning in 2011, the Conference will award a Track Performer of the Week and Field Performer of the Week for both men and women; student-athletes will be eligible for the Conference’s Spring All-Academic Team, and track and field will have a permanent presence on the SLIAC web site.
