INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference office announced Monday it has issued a public reprimand to men’s cross country student-athletes Nick Terreri of Truman State University and Joel Keller of the University of Indianapolis for violating the GLVC Sportsmanship Policy.
The Conference office determined that both Keller’s and Terreri’s misconduct shortly after the start of the 2015 GLVC Men’s Cross Country Championship on Saturday, Oct. 24, was in direct violation of GLVC Handbook Section 1.A.1.b, which states in part that “intimidating actions, fighting, attempts to injure, and any other malicious or violent conduct may be penalized by contest officials and/or the Conference.”
Pursuant to GLVC Handbook Section 17.F.6, “All game personnel (i.e. coaches, student-athletes, athletic trainers, managers, or any others associated with the institution or contest in an official capacity) who are ejected from a regular season or GLVC tournament contest, will be suspended from the team’s next contest.”
Therefore both Keller and Terreri have been suspended for the 2015 NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday, Nov. 7, in Evansville, Indiana.
“The actions taken by the Indianapolis and Truman State student-athletes have no place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference or the sport of cross country,” said GLVC Commissioner Jim Naumovich. “Their misconduct is inexcusable and will not be tolerated.”
The Conference also concluded that based on video review, no further action will be taken on Keller.
In accordance with penalties established in GLVC Handbook Section 17.F.1, the Conference office has also suspended Terreri from competition at both the 2016 GLVC Indoor Track & Field Championships (Feb. 27-28) and 2016 GLVC Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 5-7). He is eligible to compete in regular-season events in both sports.
“While the Conference does not condone the egregious actions of Mr. Terreri, it is important to note that the league was notified by a University of Indianapolis student-athlete involved in the altercation that other members of Truman State issued apologies on behalf of the team prior to departing the site of competition,” said Naumovich.
“Furthermore, it is profoundly disappointing that representatives of another Conference member institution that captured the misconduct on video felt compelled to share the incident on social media. The actions of those individuals changed the entire discourse of the GLVC Cross Country Championships and subsequently damaged the reputation of both our sport and our league.”
The Great Lakes Valley Conference considers this matter concluded and will have no further comment.