Jan. 25, 2007

Women's Lacrosse Head Coach Allison Valentino

On her thoughts today:
"I feel extreme disappointment for the Ohio Lacrosse program. This is a sad day for Ohio lacrosse, and a sad day for lacrosse in general. I don't want to focus on that as much as I want to focus on my team and my girls that have given everything that I've asked them to since day one when I took over this program. I could not have asked for a greater group of girls to coach. They've done everything I've asked them to, and more so my heart aches for them. Right now all of my thoughts and all of my energy is geared to supporting them and helping them do whatever I can."

On her message to her team:
"We're taking it day by day. We're focusing on ourselves. We are a very close-knit group. We're a family, and we are focusing on that right now and supporting each other. That's been our main focus since we've been given this information. I don't know if there's been a lot of time for this to sink in for a lot of us. I'm sure we'll have a lot of answers in time, but right now we're in a state of supporting each other and loving each other."

On whether or not the explanation given was sufficient:
"That's not something I want to focus on. I want to focus on my team. The decision has been made by the administration and is a decision that is a final decision. For me and my team, we are focusing on ourselves and not the decision."

Swimming and Diving Head Coach Greg Werner

On what his team has done since yesterday:
"We had a meeting last night, and I gave them the opportunity to ask any questions that they didn't receive the answers to when the director and the administrators met with them and any other questions that they might have. Then we talked about where we go from here, where we would be going if this decision wasn't made and where we go because of this decision. I gave them my pledge that I would fight for them. I said, 'You deserve that. This program deserves that. I made that pledge to you in the past, and I make that pledge to you now. I'm not done fighting.'"

On whether this adds any significance to the rest of the season:
"I have a lot of respect for this team and a lot of confidence in the character of the team. I think they will spin this to a positive."

Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Head Coach Clay Calkins

On what the team does now:
"We try to keep everybody as motivated as possible. With track and field, we are dealing with a lot of self-motivated athletes to begin with. It is a great group of young men we are dealing with, a very mature group. They'll take this and learn from it I'm sure. It's not a happy decision for anybody involved. It is the worst thing that could happen to our program. Both the men's and women's, we are a combined team. We have close to 120 total athletes that are affected by this. You can't just say this is affecting the men only. We do everything together. We practice together, travel together. So you're not only affecting 60 young men, but affecting 60 young women as well in a negative manner."

On whether or not he was surprised by the elimination of both indoor and outdoor track:
"With Title IX issues at hand, track, nationwide, has been a target. They count indoor and outdoor as separate seasons. With 55 men on the roster it is 110 men on the roster as countable athletes."