Director of Athletics Allen Ward answered questions via email for The Murray State News‘ article, “Switching track.” His Q & A with The News is provided below.
KR: I have spoken to former track and field athlete Kiara Austin about when she initially decided she wanted to walk at her May 2016 graduation rather than compete in the OVC Championships. She has given me her timeline of events, and I was hoping you could give me the athletic timeline of events. Austin said when she met with Coach Swieton, both the assistants and the cross-country assistant on Oct. 27, there was not an NCAA representative nor anyone else from athletic’s present. Why was that?
AW: I’m not sure what you mean by an NCAA representative. It would be unusual for someone from the NCAA to be included in a meeting such as this. As you can imagine, meetings between a Head Coach and student-athlete occur all the time. As with all matters such as this, the sport supervisor and AD were involved. I was out of town, but kept fully informed as to the discussion and alternatives being suggested.