St. Joe’s track and field phased out its jumps program: ‘It was almost like we were more freelance’
The jumps program, part of the St. Joe’s track and field team, started its phase-out process in the 2023-24 season. After three jumpers graduated in May, the program was terminated.
The Atlantic 10 track and field outdoor championships have long represented the end of the competitive season for many college athletes.
But for St. Joseph’s, the 2026 A-10 championships in Fairfax, Va., weren’t just the end of another season, it was the end of a chapter.
Senior Lily Ferguson’s 5.40-meter finish in the women’s long jump final on May 2 at George Mason Stadium was the final jump for St. Joe’s.
The jumps program, which was part of the St. Joe’s track and field team, started its phase-out process in the 2023-24 season, when athletes were notified of the eventual end of the program, three former Hawks told The Inquirer. In the 2025-2026 season, after the remaining three jumpers in the program, Ferguson, Logan Henry, and Cameron Campbell-Miller graduated in May, the program was terminated, the trio said.
“When it came to jumps, you can clearly see it was almost like we were more freelance than being a part of the team,” Campbell-Miller said.
With two full seasons ahead of him after learning this news, Campbell-Miller said he became “a lot more school-oriented,” and focused on taking advantage of the time he had left to get involved in other programs and opportunities. By the time he finished his jumping career, Campbell-Miller said he felt more detached from the team than ever before.
The group of jumpers remained close, though its size dwindled each year. By the end of their senior year, Campbell-Miller said the three remaining jumpers “were [their] own little family.” The rest of the team, he said, remained supportive, but ultimately still separate.
In the 2022-23 season, Yvonne Harrison and Brian Hirshblond were coaches for sprints, jumps, and hurdles. Following that season, no coach was listed as a jumps specialist.
“The head coach, if you talk to even the [coaches] below him, they didn’t jump when they were in high school. They didn’t really work with jumps beforehand,” Campbell-Miller said. “You could tell they would try. They’re trying their best with everything that they’re doing, and I give them kudos for that.”
“When it came to jumps, you can clearly see it was almost like we were more freelance than being a part of the team.”
St. Joe’s head coach Mike Glavin specializes in cross country and distance events, while assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Chris Tarello coaches the middle distance group. Assistant coach David Reick focuses on sprints and hurdles.
Luke Noss, a fellow senior who competed in long sprints and hurdles, saw the events unfold from a different perspective but also noticed the coaching being spread thin.
“When you have 30 to 35 sprinters and you only have three jumpers, it’s a little hard to give the jumpers what they need, just based on numbers,” Noss said. “As a coach, you’re going to give the people that’s your biggest group of people the biggest chance of scoring the most time, so it was definitely, I guess, in one word, just an afterthought for the jumpers these past few years.”
Joel Maxcy, a sports business professor at Drexel said, in his broad understanding, there were a lot of factors that could have led to the decision.
Track and field isn’t a revenue sport or one that garners widespread attention like basketball. The House v. NCAA settlement, which came after the decision but imposed roster limits of 45 athletes for men and 45 athletes for women implemented in the 2025—26 academic year, likely only reaffirmed it.
» READ MORE: How does the House settlement affect the Big 5? | From 2025
“Probably, they looked at the costs and benefits of this and said, ‘The cost of either hiring a new coach or now complying with the house rules don’t make jumps worth it to us anymore. The cost of keeping jumpers is not worth the benefit of a somewhat more competitive and better track and field team,’” Maxcy said.
Ashwin Puri, the new athletic director at St. Joe’s, shared a similar sentiment about pouring resources into more competitive areas of the program in his written statement to The Inquirer about why the school decided to cut the program.
“Saint Joseph’s is committed to aligning its resources to best serve its mission,” Puri said. “In the current landscape of collegiate athletics, like many institutions across the country, that means focusing on areas of strength that allow our programs to flourish and set themselves apart. Saint Joseph’s track and field programs will continue to compete at the highest level and prepare student-athletes for bright futures both on and off the track.”
Despite the program’s deterioration over the seasons, Campbell-Miller said that when he started at St. Joe’s in 2022, the jumps program was a big contributor to the team’s success at meets.
At that time, Patrick Fehm, who finished his career as one of the program’s best jumpers, was in his junior year. Fehm medaled eight times for St. Joe’s, including a gold medal in the high jump at the 2023 A-10 indoor championships, at the 2022 IC4A outdoor championships, and at the 2024 IC4A indoor championships. He also won one silver medal and four bronzes.
Fehm was in his senior year when the future of the program was shared with the athletes. With one year of eligibility left because of COVID-19, that decision meant exploring other options for him. He completed his final year of eligibility at Tennessee.
Even though the decision altered his plans, Fehm said he felt worse for the jumpers coming up behind him in the program but understood what went into it as a nonrevenue sport at a mid-major school.
“To an extent, I can respect a little bit more, especially going forward, you want to recruit athletes and you want student athletes to be a part of the program or the thing they’re doing or specializing in, you want there to be consistency with the resources you’re getting,” Fehm said.
However, Noss said the irony of the situation is that the only national champion at St. Joe’s came from the jumps program.
In 1991, Donna Crumety was the NCAA triple jump champion and remains the only athlete from the school to win a national title.
“We invest so much in our schools, in basketball, and field hockey, and etc., lacrosse,” Noss said. “Those are the big sports, but our only national champion is a triple jumper, and that program’s gone.”
Going forward, it’s unclear to the former athletes how this will affect the program’s ability to stay competitive. Without ever having throws and now cutting jumps, Noss said it’s not feasible to compete with bigger schools such as Rhode Island, Virginia Commonwealth, or George Mason that have an entire team.
» READ MORE: Sam Brown looks to blend his international experience with St. Joe’s field hockey’s winning ways
Campbell-Miller said it could help with recruiting for sprints and distance runners with the focus on these athletes, but he ultimately thinks the lack of jumps and a full team can be harmful to the program.
“We have a more competitive track team than we’ve had in a very long time, both distance and sprints and hurdles,” Campbell-Miller said. “I feel like scoring may go up on the track, but without the jump scoring or that possibility points, I feel like where we’re going to be as a team will feel pretty stagnant, and we’re not going to be going, at least on the A-10 level, to where we want to be, so I think that hurts. Obviously, it was terrible for everyone who was here.”
