ISU head baseball coach Lyle Smith sat teary-eyed behind a desk that will be his for only a month and a half longer.

Earlier in the day, ISU Athletics Director Bruce Van De Velde handed down the decision that both ISU men’s swimming and baseball programs would no longer exist as part of Iowa State’s athletic lineup.

“This is an extremely difficult decision to make,” Van De Velde said. “My heart goes out to the coaches and student athletes impacted.”

ISU baseball players Lincoln Mincks and Spencer Allen expressed their disbelief over the Athletic Department’s decision to cut their team from Iowa State’s lineup of intercollegiate sports for 2001-02.

“Our initial reaction was just shock and we were just kinda mad that this happened and there’s nothing we could do about it,” Mincks said. “It’s just upsetting, and I’m still in shock right now.”

“It hurts because you don’t like to see your program disappear,” Allen, a senior, said. “I wanted to still be a part of it when I left, but now it’s gone.”

Smith, who had already received oral commitments from 13 recruits, was hoping to sign 20 student-athletes to join his team for next season, now he will no longer have the opportunity to recruit or coach again as the head of the Cyclone baseball program.

“We’re the only team in the league that doesn’t have lights. We’re the only team in the league that doesn’t charge admission. I don’t know what criteria they used [for deciding what sports to cut], all I know is that it was a very difficult decision for our president and athletic director,” Smith said. “I’m sure some people will have a hard time understanding it, but nobody wants to cut a sport. If people believe that Bruce [Van de Velde] came here with the intent to drop baseball and swimming, I think they’re sadly mistaken.”

Van De Velde said that climate played a major role in the decision to cut baseball.

“The climate in baseball made it very, very difficult for us to be competitive,” he explained. Van De Velde went on to say that the unpredictable Iowa weather forced the Cyclones to played on the road for the first month of the season.

Men’s swimming and diving had been on the brink of being discontinued three times since head coach Trip Hedrick arrived in 1989.

“It’s all about relationships,” Hedrick said. “The relationships with my guys, within our team, within the Iowa State family.”

Fifth-year senior Brian Rogers said he feels especially bad for his younger teammates who won’t get a chance to prove themselves as swimmers.

“One of the great things about our team is Trip gets projects,” Rogers said. “For example, I was a project my freshman year. There was no Division I school that would look at me, I was just nothing. Eventually by my senior year I ended up being a two-time All-American and set several records here. No one would have ever guessed that. I just feel so sorry for the freshmen and sophomores who are in the same position that I was in.”

Rumors have circulated that the swim team would be cut for the last week, but it didn’t ease the pain for Hedrick.

“It’s a pretty devastating time for our family,” Hedrick said. “I think we have a reputation that we have built our program on the family aspect.”

Iowa State won’t only be losing a team that finished 24th in the NCAA meet, the team also carried a grade-point average that was over 3.0.

“The hardest part for all of us to realize is that I think our program epitomizes what a collegiate student-athlete experience should be,” Hedrick said.

Van De Velde stated that the teams that were cut weren’t discontinued because of Title IX and that equity couldn’t be blamed.

“[We] have a commitment to equity, but I don’t think you can blame gender equity,” he said.

The athletic director said he was committed to having equal opportunities for men and women but that he “didn’t want to get there by cutting sports.”

Hedrick said that he believes what Van De Velde said. Hedrick said it just comes down to “dollars and cents.”

“I really don’t believe it’s a Title IX issue,” he said. “I believe what he says that this is not a Title IX issue.”

The Cyclone swimmers are done for the season and now those who wish to compete must find another organization. The baseball season will finish its schedule that runs until May, barring any postseason invites.