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Arkansas men vacates 2 national titles in track & field
8 January 2009 at 10:42 - 0 comments - link
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas has received final clarification from the NCAA regarding the application of the vacation of records penalty imposed against its men’s track and field program.

As a result of the ruling, Arkansas has vacated individual points gained by a former student-athlete in team scored events during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. The deductions to the team points and the corresponding adjustment of the Razorbacks’ team finish results in the vacation of two NCAA national championships and one NCAA regional championship.

"During the course of this matter, the University of Arkansas has pursued every avenue afforded to it in the NCAA infractions process," Arkansas Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long said. "Although we are disappointed in the ultimate outcome, we respect the process and the final determination. The University has begun the process of implementing the vacation of records penalty and will move quickly to complete the process. With this matter concluded, we will move forward by making an even stronger and more concerted commitment to NCAA rules compliance."

The deduction of the former student-athlete’s points results in the vacation of the 2004 and 2005 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships won by the University of Arkansas. Arkansas has now won 40 NCAA championships in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field. In addition, the 2004 NCAA Mideast Regional Championship was vacated based on the deduction of points. Team points were also vacated in the 2004 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships resulting in the vacation of Arkansas’ second-place finish.

Arkansas’ team points were also adjusted in the 2004 SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships, the 2004 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the 2005 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 2005 NCAA Mideast Regional. The vacation of points did not alter the Razorbacks’ team place with Arkansas retaining the conference championship in both the 2004 and 2005 SEC Outdoor Championships, a team title in the 2005 NCAA Mideast Regional and a runner-up finish at the 2004 SEC Indoor Championships.

With the conclusion of this process, University officials will not have any further comment on this matter.

Any Reason why they got this NCAA violation ??

1yeldud1 wrote:Any Reason why they got this NCAA violation ??

Drama involving Tyson Gay and a sprint coach they used to have on staff. I think some pretty serious stuff went down, I believe that coach ended up serving time in jail. Google Tyson Gay Arkansas NCAA violations and you should find some interesting articles.

Personally, I think these "penalties" are a load of manure and here is why:

In order to follow my logic we must establish these 2 facts: 1. NCAA rules are in place to keep things fair and must be followed by all universities. 2. The definition of cheating is " a violation of rules".

Therefore, Arkansas, though they may not have known what was going on at the time, did intentionally or unintentionally commit an act of cheating. As a result, THEY SHOULD LOSE THEIR TITLES ANYWAY!!! This isn't a penalty. It's simply FAIR. Everyone else followed the rules. For those of you who think I'm being too harsh consider the following:

The sad part about this whole ordeal is not that Arkansas loses their titles. That should have been a given. The sad part is that the teams and athletes who placed 2nd at these NCAA meets will never get to claim they were national champions. Notice the article only mentions that Arkansas vacates the titles. It doesn't say that the University of Florida was awarded the 2004 Men's Outdoor Track and Field National Championship Title.... because they weren't..... even though they deserved it. Or what about the guy who came in 2nd behind Tyson Gay in the 100 meter dash? He'll never get the credit he deserved.

In my opinion, Arkansas should have been penalized to a much greater extent. Losing the titles wasn't a penalty. It was a justified consequence of their actions. Something else needs to be imposed as a penalty to deter this type of behavior. Otherwise, why not cheat? Under the current system, the worst thing that can happen is that you get caught and lose your titles 5 years after you won them. Do you really think they're going to track down all of the former Arkansas runners and ask for their Championship rings back?

utVOLter wrote:Personally, I think these "penalties" are a load of manure and here is why:

In order to follow my logic we must establish these 2 facts: 1. NCAA rules are in place to keep things fair and must be followed by all universities. 2. The definition of cheating is " a violation of rules".

Therefore, Arkansas, though they may not have known what was going on at the time, did intentionally or unintentionally commit an act of cheating. As a result, THEY SHOULD LOSE THEIR TITLES ANYWAY!!! This isn't a penalty. It's simply FAIR. Everyone else followed the rules. For those of you who think I'm being too harsh consider the following:

The sad part about this whole ordeal is not that Arkansas loses their titles. That should have been a given. The sad part is that the teams and athletes who placed 2nd at these NCAA meets will never get to claim they were national champions. Notice the article only mentions that Arkansas vacates the titles. It doesn't say that the University of Florida was awarded the 2004 Men's Outdoor Track and Field National Championship Title.... because they weren't..... even though they deserved it. Or what about the guy who came in 2nd behind Tyson Gay in the 100 meter dash? He'll never get the credit he deserved.

In my opinion, Arkansas should have been penalized to a much greater extent. Losing the titles wasn't a penalty. It was a justified consequence of their actions. Something else needs to be imposed as a penalty to deter this type of behavior. Otherwise, why not cheat? Under the current system, the worst thing that can happen is that you get caught and lose your titles 5 years after you won them. Do you really think they're going to track down all of the former Arkansas runners and ask for their Championship rings back?

i agree