Nearly two months after its men’s cross country team was suspended, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville has placed a majority of the women’s cross country team on an indefinite pause as well.
According to WMTV, upperclassmen on the team received a letter from the university in October telling them that their participation on the team would be paused while an investigation is conducted into allegations that some team activities “potentially violated University Policy, including alleged unsafe driving.”
Related: UW-Platteville Suspends Men’s Cross Country Coach, Team Amid Hazing Allegations
The letter also listed additional possible violations, including, “dangerous conduct, hazing, disruption of university-authorized activities and violation of university rules. It says the conduct also potentially violates the University Student-Athlete Handbook anti-hazing policy.”
The women say they have tried communicating with school administrators to understand why they are not competing, but they have not been given an update on the status of the investigation.
Members of the cross country team included in the investigation were also informed that they may not participate in Track and Field if the investigation remains ongoing at that time.
“We feel like we’re being punished and we don’t even know what it is that we did... There’s nowhere that we’re able to find what it is that we did that could have broken those rules. And we’ve tried to ask, and they just say that we should look in the handbook, but we’re not able to find it, and they’re not really able to show us where we can find that,” one runner said.
When the men’s team and coach were suspended in September, UW-Platteville officials claimed they were investigating allegations of hazing, but did not specify what had occurred.
Pausing the women’s season has caused them to miss the conference meet and regional meet. If the investigation continues, most of the team will also miss the beginning of indoor track and field season, which begins on Dec. 5.
