Internal Strife Hits at Louisiana State

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, May 11. THE Louisiana State University athletic department recently informed a pair of male swimmers that their scholarships would not be renewed for the 2005-06 season, due to negative comments the pair expressed toward the coaching staff. The swimmers, junior Matt Coenen and freshman Eddie Kenney, were dismissed from the team last month.

According to the Daily Reveille, the athletes posted negative comments about the LSU coaching staff on the Web site, thefacebook.com. Through the Web site, the athletes created a group called “The Fantastic Four Coaches,” after the Tigers placed seventh in the Southeastern Conference Championships. Freshmen Jeffrey Vivo and Joe Veron were also part of the posting.

Vivo told the Daily Reveille that he left the team on his own accord, but due to the incident. Veron, meanwhile, is on probation as a result of the incident, but may return to the team. Kenney indicated that the comments, which criticized the way the coaching staff trained and prepared the team, were the athletes’ way of expressing their disappointment in how the season unfolded. The group no longer exists on the Web site.

LSU coach Adam Schmitt informed the athletes of their dismissal on April 4. He declined to discuss the situation with the Daily Reveille, only to say that some athletes were removed from the team. Coenen was the only swimmer to advance beyond the preliminaries at the SEC Championships, doing so in the 200 breaststroke.

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