Vol. 129 NO. 9
March 13, 2025
By the students, for the students
“We’re not here to make happy athletes, we’re here to make winners”
CWU Parking: Students share their thoughts on campus parking
PAGE 4
Student athletes allege serious A Q&A with President Wohlpart
mistreatment from Cross Country and Track and Field coaches
PAGE 9 Collage by Julia Snow.
Jackson Roberts Co-Editor-In-Chief
R
ecently, in response to a “campus consensus” survey by The Observer, multiple students cited complaints with coaching on the Track and Field and Cross Country teams. One survey respondent claimed, “Nearly every member of the Cross Country team disapproves of the new distance coach put in charge. The last time someone tried to stand up for the athletes, they were removed.” The Observer spoke with four athletes about the current climate on the team and also reviewed a complaint one student filed with Human Resources about multiple issues involving the program under Head Coach Jonathan Hill and Assistant Coach/ Distance Coach Matt Layton. The Observer reached out by email to Coach Hill for comment. He replied, “With this particular request, I don’t have any desire to comment.” Coach Hill came to CWU in 2023 after five seasons as an assistant coach for Division I school Rice University. Coach Layton came to CWU the same year from the University of Louisville. According to CWU Athletic Director Dr. Dennis Francois, “Anytime there’s situations where student athletes might not be happy with a new coach and other new things, change is difficult, and it is different for everybody. It’s difficult for new coaches coming into a new environment. It’s difficult for student athletes who are used to a different coach who recruited them. Now I’ve got this person who I don’t know and might not agree with
their philosophy and might not be a good fit for me. These are decisions that student athletes make.” “Hopefully, they see what Coach Hill and Coach Layton are trying to develop here, and we would love to have them along for that ride and buy into what’s happening,” Francois said. Physical and Mental Health The athletes interviewed expressed concerns about their teammates’ mental well-being while on the roster, claiming they endured mistreatment by the coaches. Multiple athletes confirmed hearing Coach Hill say, “We are not here to make happy athletes, we’re here to make winners.” One athlete, Athlete 1, who, along with all the other student athletes interviewed for this story, was granted anonymity out of a concern that they could lose their roster spot or face retaliation, complained about how coaches viewed injured athletes. “It’s almost like when you’re injured, you don’t matter anymore. I’ve had weeks on end where I almost haven’t even been talked to by the coaching staff because I’ve been injured,” Athlete 1 said. Athlete 1 also alleged that there has been more than one instance where the coaches have pushed athletes too hard during injuries. Athlete 1 claimed that Coach Hill and Coach Layton were pushing two athletes so hard that it led to both needing surgery. Athlete 1 claimed the coaches were adamant they never needed to go get the injuries checked out by professionals, continu-
“I’ve had weeks on end where I almost haven’t even been talked to by the coaching staff because I’ve been injured” - Track and Field / Cross Country Athlete
ing to put the athletes through cross training instead of tending the injuries. According to Athlete 2, some athletes have been forced to race through injury. “There is one athlete who is in excruciating pain and I’ve had a friend with this exact same injury and they had to have surgery. Coaches are telling them they’re not allowed to get imaging done, telling them they are not allowed to go to an actual doctor about it and that they just need to keep on running,” Athlete 2 said. “Instead of taking their training back to let them heal, they have increased the number of workouts they are doing per week and because they physically can’t handle the pain anymore, they scaled back the length of their workouts and added another one into the week to compensate for the fact they couldn’t do longer workouts. They are still making them race, it’s really been awful.” Athlete 2 asserted that the coaches’ methods have taken a toll on the athletes in a negative way, stating they are worried about some of their team-
mates’ mental health. “I have a friend running for a university in the midwest who had similar issues with coaching. One of her teammates actually committed suicide, in large part due to the toxicity of the coach. The university’s athletic admin did not do anything until it was too late. So now I’m sitting here, wondering which one of my teammates is going to have to lose their life before the admin will be willing to do anything about the things we’re experiencing.” Francois described how CWU handles the mental and physical health of the athletes. “We want to make sure they have the best training possible, but a lot of times, the actual philosophy might not be as good of a fit as it was with our previous coach. In terms of training and mental health, we have a plethora of services available to our student athletes and students,” Francois said. “We definitely make those services
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