While Wednesday was a time of sorrow in the Ball State athletic community, there was a sigh of relief for at least two teams.
Of the six teams nominated for the cutting block, men's volleyball and men's swimming and diving were spared from dismissal as Ball State-sponsored programs. Men's cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field teams were cut.
"We have been saved," men's swimming head coach Bob Thomas said. "There is some sadness involved because of the dropping of men's track, and things are changing at this point in time in the athletic program."
The changes Thomas spoke of are a part of the decision announced by director of athletics Bubba Cunningham, which includes more than just the elimination of those three teams. Among other changes, the budgets for both teams will be reduced.
Men's volleyball head coach Joel Walton, however, is looking ahead to succeeding.
"My job as the coach is to make sure our program stays in a strong position financially so that from that standpoint we continue to be a viable option," Walton said. "We are going to start selling tickets for the first time ever this year and what I hope to see is to build what has already been a pretty strong attendance base. "
Thomas, who has been the coach of the swimming team for 24 years, said this challenge is nothing new to him.
"To me, (the new challenges are) something we've always been faced with," Thomas said. "It's always been a major challenge to raise funds and recruit and compete against programs that have more. In that regard, nothing has changed."
Future recruiting campaigns were made more difficult because of the uncertainty of whether the programs would remain in existence. However, Walton is confident in the program's ability to continue a long-standing school tradition.
"There is a great interest in our sport and certainly Ball State is one of (its) founding fathers," he said. "So another good thing about (Wednesday) is that we can continue to carry that torch."
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