UNA to add two new varsity sports

UNA has completed all but two of the five benchmark requirements for NCAA Division I, according to UNA President Bill Cale.

UNA still needs to be admitted into an athletic conference, but after a review of potential sports, Athletic Director Mark Linder has announced adding women’s indoor and outdoor track to go into next year’s Department of Athletics budget.

“Since we have a cross-country team, we feel that adding indoor and outdoor track would strengthen that sport,” Linder said.

As for the coaching staff, Linder said the department will use the current UNA cross-country coach Scott Trimble as the head coach and plans to hire more staff in the future.

In competitions involving indoor track, the team will travel to a facility in Birmingham to compete against other schools, Linder said.

“We needed two women’s sports and it also feels within the framework of our athletic budget,” Linder said. “In the end, we feel like we can be competitive by adding these two sports to our athletic program.”

Adding these sports will make a positive contribution to the university’s compliance with Title IX, Cale said.

“I am quite excited about the addition of women’s indoor and outdoor track,” said President William Cale. “These sports will create new opportunities and strengthen our existing sport of cross-country. I think the athletic department has reached an excellent decision on how to expand our varsity sports program,” he said.

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