Two freshmen who were dismissed from the UNM softball team two weeks ago are challenging the reasons behind head coach Susan Craig's decision.
Craig said Krystal Mejia and Lauren McCoy were removed from the team April 22 after serving a week-long suspension for violating curfew the night before an April 14 game against the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. She said the players were at a party until 2:30 a.m.
Craig also cited poor performance as another reason the players were dismissed. She added that the players were released from their scholarships so that they could freely transfer to other schools.
Mejia had started 33 games at shortstop for the Lobos and batted .207 with seven RBIs. McCoy pitched in 20 games and played first base for most of the season for UNM. She hit .143 for the team and was 2-6 with a 4.04 ERA that was second on the team.
Now, the players and Mary McCoy, Lauren's mother, are asking the Athletics Department to investigate events leading up to the decision to remove the players from the team.
Mejia and Lauren McCoy say they were never given a clear answer about their release.
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"It hurts," Mejia said. "We worked so hard for this and then to have it taken away from us."
In an e-mail to the Daily Lobo, Mary McCoy said Mejia and Lauren requested an investigation by Assistant Athletics Director Janice Ruggiero and are alleging racial bias and discrimination in their treatment by the coaching staff.
Ruggiero did not return phone calls from the Daily Lobo, but an Athletic Department staff member said she was in budget meetings Friday.
Mary alleged in her e-mail that assistant coach Bill Gracey made numerous ethnically and culturally insensitive remarks to the players throughout the season.
Craig said nothing was intentionally said that was derogatory toward Mejia, Lauren McCoy or any other minority player. She added that when she spoke with Mejia and Lauren on Tuesday, they said they were fine with her decision.
"There's no reason to think there is a problem," Craig said. "But when you give credence to these charges, that says it's OK just to hurt somebody."
The coach added that the allegations the players and Lauren's mother made are personal attacks.
"They are trying to deflect focus on the fact that they didn't meet the standards and the responsibilities of a Division-I athlete," Craig said. "I can tell you, as a coach, that it is very easy for people to make charges and complaints that they don't have to back up."
Mejia and Lauren McCoy would not say the coaching staff was biased against them, but said they did feel the coaches focused their criticism more on them.
"I don't want to put us in a position to say that the staff was biased to me and Krystal," Lauren McCoy said. "I felt that some of the occurrences that happened seemed a little suspect."
Mejia and Lauren McCoy said they would be transferring at the end of the semester, possibly to a college in California. They added that they would still like to play softball.
"I've been doing it since I walked," Lauren McCoy said. "I'm not going to let one bad situation ruin my dreams."
