Nicholls officials decided last week to discontinue men’s outdoor track and field and replace it with men’s tennis effective fall 2004.At the end of the Southland Conference outdoor track and field meet this semester, the University will officially end its sponsorship of men’s track.

The decision to drop men’s track first resulted from a recommendation by the athletics department, which is headed by Athletics Director Rob Bernardi.

Bernardi met with the Nicholls athletics council, which is a broad-base committee of Nicholls faculty, staff and students. The council approved the athletics department recommendation then passed its recommendation to the University administration.

In a quote from a University relations press release, Nicholls President Stephen T. Hulbert said dropping men’s outdoor track is the best situation for Nicholls.

“While we are sensitive to the student-athletes involved, it is in the best interest of Nicholls State University to make this change,” Hulbert said.

Bernardi said he thinks adding men’s tennis will bring more competition to the men’s program.

“I am convinced we can provide a better collegiate experience and be more competitive in tennis than we have in outdoor track and field,” Bernardi said.

According to the athletics department recommendation, the lack of track facilities and success in the men’s program played roles in the decision to drop men’s track.

The Nicholls athletics council’s recommendation to the University administration stated that consideration should be given on a case by case basis to all student athletes who are currently involved in the men’s track program. This consideration would involve honoring all agreements for financial assistance made prior to the discontinuance of the program.

Tuition support packages will be made available to the four outdoor track student-athletes on scholarship at the beginning of the 2003-04 academic year with remaining eligibility.

“It is only fair that we give these young men the opportunity to earn their degrees here at Nicholls State,” Hulbert said.

The decision to drop men’s track has brought mixed opinions upon current members of the outdoor track team. Sophomore runner Andre Ory said he was surprised at the decision, and at first denied it as a rumor.

“I was kind of surprised at first because I thought it was a rumor,” Ory said. “I really don’t think that we were given a fighting chance at all. It affected a lot of people because some people were crying when they found out.”

Sophomore runner Cory Chaisson said it is a good move because the men’s track program was not getting the support or funds it needed to survive.

“I think it’s a good thing because we weren’t getting the support that we should have been getting with the program,” Chiasson said. “It’s disappointing because I came here as a freshman thinking I was going to spend my four years running, but the only reason I feel good about them dropping men’s track is because they didn’t provide us with the funds or support.”

Senior runner Leslie “Tex” Martin said University administrators did not do everything it should have done to improve the program.

“The University didn’t do everything they needed to do to keep the program here, and there were many opportunities they could have taken to improve the program,” Martin said. “It’s kind of hard to point the finger in one direction, but I feel men’s track was completely overlooked. There were things we would bring up to administrators, and they just weren’t getting done.”

Martin also said the University was trying to improve its image by adding men’s tennis.

“I think they are just trying to better up the issue as making the tennis team sound good because they won some conference tournaments,” Martin said. “They put something on the website that said they were bringing a men’s tennis team, and how successful they were in the 1970s. What makes that a legitimate reason for them being successful now? That is like saying just because the Chicago Bulls had Michael Jordan back in the day when they won all those championships, that they are supposed to be successful now. If you look at them now, they don’t have the same coaches or players so they aren’t going to have the same results.”

Men’s tennis returns to Nicholls for the first time since 1984, when the sport was dropped. From 1972 to 1977, Nicholls won six Gulf South Conference championships and competed in four NCAA championships.

The men’s team finished third in the 1979 NCAA Division II tennis championships and second in the 1980 NCAA tournament.

“We’ve had a successful record in the years that we had men’s tennis. The resources are in place for men’s tennis,” Michael Delaune, director of University Relations, said.

Bernardi said a national search would take place for a new tennis coach to coach both men and women’s tennis. The current women’s tennis interim head coach, Jodi Robinson, will not be back next season.

College or high school students interested in competing in men’s tennis should contact the athletics department at (985) 448-4794.