Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego to cut track, cross-country

PLNU Athletics to Cut Four Sports, Add Another



San Diego, Calif. (March 1, 2010) – Softball facility challenges and Title IX concerns have forced Point Loma Nazarene University to eliminate four of its current athletic teams, athletics director Ethan Hamilton announced today.

Beginning with the 2010-11 academic year, the university will no longer field teams for men’s golf, men’s cross country and track and field, and women’s softball. The university will add women’s golf as an intercollegiate program, beginning in the fall of 2011.

“This was an extremely difficult decision, forced by a number of interrelated factors that left us few alternatives,” Hamilton said.

The university has been trying for several years to find a permanent alternative to the Sunset Cliffs softball field owned by the City of San Diego and used by the women’s softball team for 29 years. The city has decided to revert the field back to its natural habitat. Efforts to find an alternative facility were intensified this past year, but resulted in no suitable, available, permanent location on the campus or within 15 miles of PLNU.

With the imminent loss of PLNU’s softball program, the university is faced with the challenge of adhering to Title IX regulations, which require the ratio of male to female athletes to closely approximate the male-female student ratio at the university. To fully comply with Title IX, PLNU must cut several men’s sports – cross country, track and field, and golf. To assure adequate opportunities for female athletes, PLNU will be adding women’s golf.

A capped enrollment and property restraints have hampered the university’s ability to sustain and add programs to its athletic menu.

“Several scenarios were considered when looking at our options and none of them were easy fixes,” Hamilton said. “Taking into consideration the impact on our current personnel, future recruitment, diversity of enrollment, impact on our facilities, sports that our conference offers and precedents set by other schools, this is the path we chose to follow.”

Hamilton said the university will honor scholarship commitments to the affected athletes or help them find another university to continue their athletic careers if they so desire.

“These teams have posted remarkable graduation rates and have always represented our university in the best possible light,” Hamilton said. “We are extremely grateful for all they and especially our coaches have given to these programs to help them succeed at a regional and national level.”


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Point Loma Nazarene University is a selective liberal arts university located in San Diego, California, and sits on a 90-acre campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean. In addition to more than 50 undergraduate areas of study, PLNU offers graduate program regional centers in Bakersfield, Arcadia, Mission Valley (San Diego) and the Inland Empire. Founded in 1902, PLNU serves more than 3,500 students.

Courtesy Point Loma Nazarene University