Earlier today, William & Mary announced that they will be discontinuing seven varsity sponsored sports following the completion of the 2020-21 academic calendar. Among those seven sports is men's indoor track and men's outdoor track.
Cross country was not mentioned among the impacted sports.
The decision, which was "made by university and athletics leadership with full support of the Board of Visitors, Thursday afternoon" stems from growing financial concerns. The university noted on two occasions in their press release that sponsoring as many sports as they have (23) has become "unsustainable".
In an open letter to the William & Mary community, campus leaders also noted that "The pandemic has made these budget constraints acute and has brought us to a point of reckoning."
After honoring scholarships and fulfilling coaching contracts, William & Mary projects to save $3.66 million (annually) which will be used to "[reduce] the athletic department's deficit".
The William & Mary men have been historically been one of the best distance programs in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) for decades now.
While it is important to note that cross country still remains, the impact of losing men's indoor and outdoor track may severely damage the longevity of William & Mary's cross country success as they have won every CAA cross country title since the start of the new millennia.