Drew Windle, Zac Ball, Jessica Bridnethal.  Do you recognize these names? 

How about Taylor Woods, Art Warren and Travis Tarnowski.  I am sure many more students at Ashland University can recognize these three names better than the first. 

The one thing these people have in common is that they are all athletes at AU. The one difference between the first and second groups of names mentioned is that the first three and many more of their teammates have been named national champions or qualified for nationals multiple times as members of the track and field program.

For a small Division II school like Ashland to win the women’s national championship is incredible and in no way am I trying to take away the pride in this accomplishment, this victory.

The emphasis placed on sports like basketball and football is typically greater than most other sports at a university.

The talk of the women’s national championship game has been non-stop since the day they won the title two years ago.  Chatter about the football team has already begun swirling around campus and they have barely begun their spring season.

All of this is going on and people seem to be disregarding the fact the Indoor Track and Field NCAA Championships took place two weeks ago.

It must have slipped everyone’s mind that Ashland gets to add another national champion to its list.  They get to add multiple All-American athletes, most of whom place in the top 10 in the nation.

Did you know that at one point during the 2015 season both the men and women of Ashland team ranked No. 1 in the nation?  Ashland University possessed the number one, Division II, track and field program in the county.

It is not necessarily the lack of publicity that upsets the members of the team; rather the lack of support and recognition from both the students and athletic department.

Drew Windle, current national champion in the 800 meter, said he and his teammates do get recognized, although it always seems to be outdone by other sports like basketball and football.

For example, a ceremony was held for those members of the indoor track and field team who qualified for nationals this year.  The Athletic Department held the ceremony during halftime of the men’s basketball game.  If anyone has attended basketball games in the past two years, you would know that most fans leave after the women’s game as the men’s is starting.

“I heard there was a lack of fans at the men’s game,” said junior long distance runner Nick Hall. “But I didn’t think it would be as empty as it was.  What was sad was that the only event going on during the women’s game was the dance team.”

Regardless of what place the track team receives, it seems as if they are always disregarded when a major sport is successful as well.

“My freshman year, we got second as a team and that was the same year the women’s basketball team got runners up in the tournament,” said Windle. “They brought us into the gymnasium and introduced the wrestling, swim and track team and they had chairs for all of us so we all sat down. Then we realized the women’s basketball team had not been called yet and all our seats on the ground were full.  Then we noticed x number of seats sitting up on stage.  They brought the entire women’s team up on the stage.  It was not a winter sports recognition, it was a women’s basketball recognition with the other sports getting to watch them from below the stage.”

Windle said this situation was frustrating to the track coaching staff that said they would not bother to participate in a ceremony like this again if this was how it was going to be.

The following year when the basketball team won, they had a ceremony on the football field at half time of the first home game.  Windle recalled them forgetting to recognize senior Katei Nageotte who came in first in pole vault.

The same year, both Windle and senior basketball star Kari Daughtery, won National Athlete of the Year and, despite recognizing them both at the same time, they had a video from the Governor of Ohio.

“I don’t really care,” said Windle. “Kari deserves the recognition, but if you are going to put something on like that, I think you have to equally recognize everyone equally and not focus on one sport.”

It is not only the lack of recognition for these athletes at ceremonies, but on social media as well. Hall said the lack of coverage on social media is what is frustrating to him.

“They live tweet for every men’s and women’s basketball game,” said Hall. “The women made it to the Sweet 16 and it was the biggest deal every. Intermixed in all those tweets was “Ashland women third in the country, men fourth.” It was just funny to see. And now there is already coverage for pre-season football.  I guess we are used to it.”

Windle came here as a freshman because at the time, it was the only place he could run.  He could have left at any point and gone to a bigger school, but once he learned about the program, the coaching staff and the training environment and said he wouldn’t have changed his decision.

Juniors Hall and Josh Davis said they transferred to Ashland specifically for their excellent track and field program.  Hall and Davis were Windle’s teammates in the relay this season.

“Social media and the ceremonies aside, what bothers me the most is just the support for other teams compared to our team,” said Windle. “It just seems like we aren’t even a thought.”

Windle recalls that the athletic department got a bus to drive down to San Antonio for the NCAA basketball championships.  The same year, track and field was going to NCAAs five hours away at Grand Valley and no bus was provided for fans or even members of the team who didn’t qualify.

Compared to a basketball game, attending a track and field meet can be more confusing to understand.  The track athletes disagreed.

“In track and field, you are competing head to head,” said Davis. “So if one of us wins, you are going to know right away because someone in an Ashland jersey crossed the line before another runner.  It is not hard to understand that.”

Windle said he knows it is hard to be a track and field fan and understands the inefficiency of attending meets, but wishes the department would at least attempt to get fans to their big championship meets.

“The point I was making is that it would be nice if even just our teammates that did not qualify had a way to come watch us,” said Windle. “I am sure a lot of people would have been willing to pay ten bucks a piece for a bus to come down to Alabama and watch us run.”

The members of the program believe it would be huge to have the support or at least the effort made to bring fans to meets.

“I cannot even image having a local support system,” said Windle. “It would be so much better having them there as a part of the meet’s environment.”

What is most unfortunate is that these athletes said they are used to being blown off compared to other sports.

“We’ve just learned to laugh about it,” said Hall.  “It’s been our whole life. Runners always get the bottom of the barrel so we just try to laugh it off and not let it bother us.”

Regardless of the sport, equal recognition should be given to all athletes of every sport, especially when those athletes are consistent national champions.