2008 Woodie Awards
Arkansas loses two national track-and-field titles
Chancellor says university will appeal
Matt Jones
Issue date: 10/26/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
The NCAA stripped Arkansas of two national track-and-field championships Thursday and placed the school on three years' probation after investigating violations concerning a former assistant coach and current U.S. sprinter, Tyson Gay.
The school will appeal the probation, UA Chancellor John A. White said in a statement.
"As we previously acknowledged, the violations in this case primarily involved a rogue former assistant coach and one student athlete over a short period of time," White said. "We are disappointed with the penalties imposed by the infractions committee and believe they are disproportionate to the violations."
Arkansas has won 40 national championships in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track under coach John McDonnell, not counting the two championships abdicated from 2004 and 2005.
The violations revolve around former assistant coach Lance Brauman, who was convicted on one count of embezzlement, one count of theft and three counts of mail fraud July 12, 2006, and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison last October. He was released from a Texas prison Aug. 28 and spent the final month of his sentence at a halfway house in Orlando, Fla.
The convictions came from Brauman's time at Barton County Community College in Kansas, in a scandal that brought about charges against seven coaches and the school's athletic director, and the subsequent firing of the school's president.
Brauman took over coaching sprinters at the UA in 2002, and was still coaching at Arkansas when he was indicted on the charges in Dec. 2005.
"The violations involved unethical conduct by the former assistant coach, as well as an admitted failure to monitor by the university," said Josephine R. Potuto, chair of the Division I committee on infractions. "The underlying violations were not egregious in and of themselves, but in combination they formed a major case."
Arkansas self-reported violations last year to the NCAA and imposed probation on itself, including a loss of scholarships for the track and field program.
The school will appeal the probation, UA Chancellor John A. White said in a statement.
"As we previously acknowledged, the violations in this case primarily involved a rogue former assistant coach and one student athlete over a short period of time," White said. "We are disappointed with the penalties imposed by the infractions committee and believe they are disproportionate to the violations."
Arkansas has won 40 national championships in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track under coach John McDonnell, not counting the two championships abdicated from 2004 and 2005.
The violations revolve around former assistant coach Lance Brauman, who was convicted on one count of embezzlement, one count of theft and three counts of mail fraud July 12, 2006, and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison last October. He was released from a Texas prison Aug. 28 and spent the final month of his sentence at a halfway house in Orlando, Fla.
The convictions came from Brauman's time at Barton County Community College in Kansas, in a scandal that brought about charges against seven coaches and the school's athletic director, and the subsequent firing of the school's president.
Brauman took over coaching sprinters at the UA in 2002, and was still coaching at Arkansas when he was indicted on the charges in Dec. 2005.
"The violations involved unethical conduct by the former assistant coach, as well as an admitted failure to monitor by the university," said Josephine R. Potuto, chair of the Division I committee on infractions. "The underlying violations were not egregious in and of themselves, but in combination they formed a major case."
Arkansas self-reported violations last year to the NCAA and imposed probation on itself, including a loss of scholarships for the track and field program.
Be the first to comment on this story