In today’s world, BYU’s Kenneth Rooks and James Corrigan may not have had the opportunity to compete in track or cross country beyond high school. They set college records at the obstacle course, played in a Parisio Games last summer, and in the case of the Lukes, they may not have had the opportunity to win a silver medal.
Thanks to landmarks, the drastic change has come to university track and field, particularly with the revenue-sharing settlement, which has a major impact on athletes in non-revenue “Olympic” sports. Soccer and basketball players share millions of dollars in direct payments from school, but for other athletes, the settlement marks the end of athletic ability as the roster spots have been significantly reduced.
BYU is a model for creating a wide range of successful athletic programs in which Olympic sports flourished. There’s nothing better than athletics/cross-country programs. The current and former BYU distance runner competed in the Paris Olympics (most of all schools in the country), with both the boys and women’s teams winning the NCAA Cross Country Championship in November.
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But even these teams are forced to reduce the size of their roster. Ed Eyestone, coach/director of BYU’s Powerhouse Track and Cross-Country program, met with athletes last week to share how the NCAA settlement will affect them and the program.
It will eliminate rosters of about 15-18 men’s and women’s track teams, effective from 2025-26. For some athletes, this may be the final year of their college careers.
“There’s some wear and tear in graduation losses, but at the end of the day, the roster will be cut again next year,” Iceton said.
These cuts are actually generous. Respecting the huge success of the distance running program, BYU has granted the team the maximum number of roster spots allowed under the new NCAA rules (explained below).
In 2020, Arizona swimmer Grant House was the leading plaintiff in a lawsuit against the NCAA, alleging that NCAA rules prevent athletes from benefiting from their name, image and likeness (nil). The NCAA finally read the room after years of ignorance and stubborn naivety to solve the case.
Above all, the settlement means that the school will pay athletes more than $20 million in annual payments directly. To fulfill these financial obligations, the NCAA reduced the size of its roster. For example, consider track and field. The NCAA has run end-around and limited the size of the roster to 45 as it will no longer be able to limit the number of scholarships the school can offer. Athletes and 45 scholarships cannot exceed those numbers. Most schools probably have fewer.
Eyosetone’s message to his team last week was good and bad news. Good news: BYU funds a maximum roster size of 45, maintaining the status quo of 12.6 scholarships for men, 18 for women (“we had 35 or 30 rosters” as it is clear (See Icestone, who was relieved.) Bad news: The size of the roster is significantly reduced.
“The meetings are better than expected,” Eyestone says. “People were prepared for worse news. They need to cut about 15 from the boys’ side and 18 from the women’s side. That’s 28% of the team.”
More specifically, on both the men’s and women’s teams, Icestone allocates more than half of the roster to distance and medium-range runners, with the rest split into sprinters/hurdlers, slowers, jumpers/multiples.
“We focus on our strengths,” says Eyestone.
The roster is leaning heavily towards distance runners for great success (schools also allow maximum limits on cross-country rosters, which are part of the track’s 45).
The woman has finished four times in the top two of the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the past seven years and won twice. The man appeared in the top three in the NCAA Championship six times in eight years, winning twice.
Former athletes at school are also attracting considerable attention to the school. Connor Muntz and Clayton Young are top two marathoners in the US, and Mantz set the US half marathon record this winter. Whitni Morgan won two races against world-class competition this winter, beating Olympic athletes and Olympic silver medalists.
The greatest shame of all changes is to eliminate people willing to compete for a walk-on in college sports and small partial scholarships for all practical purposes. In other words, still-developed prospects (although they don’t simply exclude those who want to participate, and few schools have more successful athletes than BYU.
For decades, BYU has attracted athletes who want to compete little or no scholarship money. These teams have benefited greatly from that. Some have given scholarship offers to walk-on at BYU from other schools due to affordable tuition fees, culture, low cost, facilities and team excellence. This is how schools can dispatch strong teams across all events regarding the NCAA restrictions on 12.6 scholarships for 21 events. Now, such athletes are turned away for most parts.
“Yes, we always come out of nowhere and find a place for people who can beat many people on our roster, but we’re wondering who has a spot on the roster. I’ll be careful about that,” Eyestone says. “The day is complete to bring flyers to kids that may be possible in some jobs. They already need to develop… We have less development, athlete development You will see fewer opportunities.
“In the past, we were able to steal the flyers from Kenneth’s Lukes and James Corrigan. They probably didn’t make 45 cuts by today’s standards. But my eyes were the future silver medalists. I like to think I was aware of it (see Luke).
“…At BYU, we have more on the roster than scholarships. The strength of BYU is that the administration has allowed us to have one of the larger rosters in the country. Year and sometimes 70.”
All of this change is driven by the NIL and the new challenge of paying athletes in sports that make money for soccer and basketball. “We know who pays the bill,” says Eyestone. “We want them to (successfully); there are no difficult feelings.”
