A pair of new programs will join the Fort Lewis College athletic department in the fall of 2014: The FLC Board of Trustees voted Friday to add women’s golf and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field.
Both programs will compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and will be immediately elgibile to compete in the league’s championship events.
FLC will be the 11th RMAC program in both sports.
Running long has been the flagship sport for the RMAC, with Adams State and Western State accruing several national championships at the Division II level.
“I am so very pleased that FLC is strengthening our school and our athletic department with the addition of women’s golf and women’s track and field,” FLC President Dene Kay Thomas said in a news release. “I know that our new teams will make us proud, as quality students and first-class athletes.”
The additions bring the Skyahwks’ total number of athletic programs to 13. It’s the Skyhawks’ first change in sports sponsorship since adding women’s lacrosse in 2009.
Proposals to add the sports began last spring and were approved by the campus budget committee and the Board of Trustees.
“Both programs help keep us compliant with Title IX, but more importantly, the addition of the two programs will give many young women an opportunity to earn a four-year degree and compete at a highly competitive collegiate level,” FLC athletic director Gary Hunter said in the news release.
Current cross country head coach Mark Dutro will assume the same role for the track and field programs, while FLC is searching for a men’s and women’s golf coach after Bud Andersen’s recent resignation.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
