Flo Valley JC dropping track

[rainbowgirl28]

I believe that both Jeff Hartwig and Kellie Suttle got their start there.

http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/ar ... lcuts2.txt

JUCO SPORTS: Coaches stunned by loss of Flo Valley programs
Track and field, baseball to be discontinued at area school

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By Brett Auten
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 5:10 PM CST

You could hear Phillip Wollbrinck shaking his head on the other end of the phone.

"I heard some rumors but I didn't believe, or want to believe, that they were true," he said.

What the McCluer High boys and girls track and field coach had heard about - and later found out was true - was Florissant Valley Community College opting to discontinue its track and field program as well as its baseball program at the end of their 2010 seasons.

Wollbrinck, of course, was most upset about the track and field program being eliminated. He knows about the success the Norsemen and Norsewomen have enjoyed over the years. Heck, 2008 Olympians Jeff Hartwig (pole vault) and Jared Lewis (100 meters) got started there.

"Flo Val is at nationals year after year with kids from all over the St. Louis area," Wollbrink said.

Most disheartening about the program getting eliminated is the fact that Flo Valley currently is the only juco track and field program in the entire state.

"There are a lot of good kids, who, for whatever reason, maybe don't have the GPA or just missed getting the right ACT score," Wollbrinck said. "These kids are willing to try and continue their education and athletic careers and Flo Val has always been a viable option."

Wollbrinck has been with McCluer for seven seasons and has seen seven of his own athletes plus countless competitors go on to the school.

"This is really tough," Wollbrinck said. "There are so many kids from the Suburban North who use Flo Val as a starting point."

The nearest options for Missouri athletes to go the juco route in track and field is Rend Lake Community College in Ina, Ill., which is two hours away. Wollbrinck knows the removal of the program will have an effect state-wide.

"There are a lot of kids from St. Charles to all the way down south who find their way to Flo Val," he said.

Flo Valley coach James Gillespie first heard rumblings about his track program going away in October but he thought they were nothing more than that.

"I thought there was no chance," he said. "I always thought we were safe."

Gillespie is a local product who looking forward to producing more with local talent.

He graduated from Hazelwood East in 1994. He became an assistant track and field coach at Flo Valley in 1999 before taking over for the school's legendary coach, Norris Stevenson, in 2005.

Florissant Valley is coming off one of its strongest seasons. Eleven school records were broke and 12 athletes went on to four-year schools in the past calendar year.

The move to have the program discontinued left little options for freshmen who still desire to compete. On a bright note, their scholarships at the school will still be honored.

As far as today's senior tracksters hoping to progress their way up the track and field food chain, they will have to look elsewhere.

"Not everybody can start off the same," Gillespie said. "Some need lower finances, others need to do better academically."

Gillespie estimated the operational budget for the men's and women's track programs to be $18,000. He said he would have gladly given away the indoor season if he would have been able to keep the outdoor.

Gillespie made a passionate plea last week in front of the board of trustees.

"It's heartbreaking that these opportunities are no longer going to be available," he said. "We are going to continue to protest and ask that our reinstatement be reviewed."

He has submitted two proposals, one that cuts the track and field budget in half and another that whittled it down to nothing, some 80-percent less than the current budget.