Pepperdine adds track to athletic program in order to bolster cross country program
GARRETT WAIT
Sports Editor
Over the summer, Pepperdine added women’s track to the athletic program, a decision made to strengthen the women’s cross country program as well as making sure the university remains in compliance with Title IX.
Pepperdine Athletic Director Dr. John Watson said the university is in compliance, but the school wanted to “hedge their bets” against a spike in female admission.
“(Adding track) happened as a result of the fact that we had a cross country team that we wanted to become stronger,” Watson said. “Also, there are a lot of interested former female athletes who ran track in high school on campus.”
With the women’s track program came Dick Kampmann, a veteran Pepperdine coach, who already has plenty of experience with Pepperdine’s men’s and women’s cross country teams.
Watson said Kampmann was the perfect choice for the job and that there was never really a question of who would lead the women’s track team.
“We had the right coach already in place,” Watson said. “He has a passion for the sport that makes it all work. He prepares young people not only in sports but encourages them to perform well academically and creates responsible citizens. He helps young people to grow and mature as people.”
The university has seen an increase in the number of females who have decided to enroll at Pepperdine. That played a major role in the creation of the women’s track team.
“We’re in pretty good shape with Title IX right now,” Watson said. “We’ve seen a growing demand at Seaver. The people that are accepting admission are a larger percentage of females. We needed to adjust our Title IX approach for the future.”
Watson said it’s too early to confirm that the addition of women’s track will lead to the creation of a men’s soccer team, but he remains hopeful that this could spark more interest down the road.
“It’s premature to make a decision on men’s soccer,” Watson said. “It’s been a dream of mine to have a men’s soccer program in the relatively near future. But it’s such a costly program that we would we have to find funds for general operation as well as make sure it comes in the prioritization of the university.”
Watson said the women’s track team will not bear a great financial burden on the athletic department and that because the staff is already installed, no extra hires will be made.
“We’re absorbing this sport into all the sporting functions,” Watson said. “We’re providing the support necessary academically, medically, and with the facilities. We’ve got to keep in perspective that a number of these athletes will also be cross country athletes.
“(It won’t affect the budget) in a major way. The department was able to allocate the necessary funds to fund the sport internally.”
Watson expressed his excitement to get the track team rolling again after a long layoff.
“We’re excited to have it back,” Watson said. “We look forward to beginning a long history. We had track in the ‘60s. It’s nice to have it back.”
The first order of business will be getting the right number of recruits so Pepperdine can field a team during the upcoming season.
Kampmann said he isn’t sure exactly how many athletes the team will take, but estimated the number to be between 18 and 24. Recruiting has already started, although the recruiting season was cut short.
“I did not recruit until mid-July,” Kampmann said. “I do have a hurdler, though. Also, one of our cross-country runners will be in on the cross country phase of it. She will be in the fall program.”
Kampmann is trying to recruit members internally with the cross country team as well as open tryouts for all female students interested in joining the team.
The schedule has already been set for the women’s track team, with events starting in early March and lasting trough late May.
09-08-2005
