Track coach Tegen sues UW-Madison, charges bias
10:51 PM 4/05/04
Andy Baggot and Tom Mulhern Wisconsin State Journal

Ten months after announcing plans to retire, longtime UW-Madison women's track and cross country coach Peter Tegen has filed a federal lawsuit against the school, accusing it of age and gender discrimination. <

Tegen, 64, claims in the suit that his contract was not renewed last spring in part because UW Athletic Department officials are biased against a man coaching women's track and cross country. <

When the contract was not renewed last June, Tegen announced his intent to retire effective at the end of the 2003-04 school year. <

Tegen, who started the two highly successful programs in 1975, also alleges the non-renewal was in retaliation for his outspoken opinions on matters of public concern. <

Reached at his home Monday night, Tegen confirmed the lawsuit but declined further comment and referred all questions to his attorney, Victor Arellano of Madison. Arellano was not available for comment. <

"There's nothing I can comment on because I haven't seen (the complaint)," UW-Madison deputy athletic director Jamie Pollard said Monday night. <

Tegen is one of five men currently coaching one or more women's programs at UW-Madison. Four Badgers coaches are women. <

Two years ago, Tegen was openly critical of a UW Athletic Department initiative to designate six sports for full funding, while the other 17 had their budgets reduced 3 percent. Prior to that, Tegen took public exception to a contract, since expired, that made Reebok the exclusive footwear and apparel supplier for Badgers sports. <

During his tenure, Tegen led the Badgers to two NCAA cross country championships, 39 Big Ten Conference team titles, 43 individual national champions in track and cross country and more than 220 individual Big Ten champions. He ran programs with consistently strong academic showings. He also produced three Olympians: Cindy Bremser (1984), Suzy Favor Hamilton (1992, '96, 2000) and Kathy Butler (1996). <

But both programs have been in decline recently. The Badgers have not won a Big Ten track title, indoor or outdoor, since 1997. They have not won a league cross country championship since 2000. <

In January 2001, Tegen received a letter of reprimand from then Athletic Director Pat Richter for a paperwork mistake that led to Tegen using an ineligible athlete during the 2000 cross country season. <

A personnel evaluation of Tegen after the 2001-02 school year outlined growing concerns within his programs. Among them: injuries, particularly to distance runners, and a lack of communication with UW Sports Medicine; substandard recruiting with a lack of emphasis on diversity; inadequate administration; and less-than-full support of a UW-Madison footwear and apparel contract with Adidas. <

"There were a number of concerns expressed by the student-athletes in their evaluations," assistant athletic director Terry Gawlik wrote in her evaluation. "These concerns must be addressed by Peter to ensure future success of the program." Contact Andy Baggot at abaggot@madison.com or 252-6175. Contact Tom Mulhern at tmulhern@madison.com or 252-6169.