The Running' Turtles of Maryland say farwell to the ACC

The big college sports story today is that the University of Maryland is leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference to join the Big Ten. This isn't really sports, but it gives ACC beat writers a chance to poke fun at Maryland, and ask which 10 of the Big Ten's 14 member institutions are actually big. After that, there will be the usual speculation about how this will affect conference play in basketball and football, and far flung fantasies about which schools might take Maryland's place.


Historically, it's sad to see the Terrapins leave the ACC. Maryland was not only one of the founding members of the conference in 1953, but it had also been associated with the other founding members of the ACC since 1921 as a member of the Southern Conference. Athletically, though, not so much. Let's look at how Maryland has been doing recently in the Sports That Matter:

2012 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships, 23-25 February 2012 Maryland men placed 9th out of 12 teams Maryland women placed 8th out of 12 teams 2012 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, 19-21 April 2012 Maryland men placed 8th out of 12 teams Maryland women placed 9th out of 12 teams 2012 ACC Cross-Country Championships, 27 October 2012 Maryland men did not field a team Maryland women place 11th out of 12 teams

It doesn't look like anyone would notice that the Terrapins had left. Things weren't always that way, though. From 1954 to 1980, Maryland won the ACC men's indoor title 26 times. From 1954 to 1981, the Terrapins took home 26 ACC men's outdoor titles. It would be easier to count the few years that Maryland didn't win. Maryland was less dominating in cross country during this period, but the Terrapins still grabbed 11 conference titles in men's cross-country from 1954 to 1976. Certainly, the Maryland men had their glory days in track and cross country--glory days that included the NCAA career of the great UMd alumnus, Renaldo Nehemiah. Unfortunately, those days seem to have ended three decades ago.


Three decades ago is about when women's athletics was being begrudgingly recognized by the dinosaurs who ran college sports. The first ACC women's cross-country championship was held in 1978, and the Terrapins placed second behind. They never finished that high again. The conference added an outdoor track -and-field championship for the women in 1983. Once again, Maryland was second at the inaugural meet, and could only dream of placing runner-up after that. The ACC championship for women's indoor track and field was first held in 1987. The best performance by the Lady Terps has been third, where they placed three times, but not during the 21st century.


So it's not that the University of Maryland has never been a factor in ACC track and cross country, it's that they haven't been a powerhouse for a long, long time. Most of the athletes who built that tradition are old enough to be collecting Social Security. As far as the running sports are concerned, the Terrapins aren't likely to any happier in the Big Ten, either. Yes, Jesse Owens left Ohio State a long time ago, but the Big Ten has maintained their track-and-cross-country traditions since then. Right here in Tallahassee, you can ask FAMU track coach Wayne Angel (Illinois, c/o 1982), FSU track coach Karen Harvey (Michigan, c/o 1996), or Capital City Runners proprietor and three-time Olympian Kevin Sullivan (Michigan, c/o 1998) about the level of competition in the Big Ten. They know.


Starting with the 2014-2015 seasons, Maryland's lane will be open in events at the ACC championships. There is a chance, though, that the lane would have been open anyway. Maryland has already dumped its men's cross-country program, and the men's track-and-field program is scrambling to raise money to fund its survival. As usual, budget concerns and Title IX are the reasons cited for men's track-and-field being on the chopping block. Like most schools, though, there's only one sport that you could cut at Maryland to balance the budget and achieve Title IX compliance. It's not track, and it's not cross country. But it does share a season with cross country.