Posted by Curtis Anderson

Team XO, a group of post-collegiate track and field athletes based in Eugene, has disbanded.

Ross Krempley, a former University of Oregon runner, and one of the team’s founders six years ago, delivered the news to about 50 athletes on Wednesday night in a personal blog posted on his Web site at RunnerSpace.com.

The 30-year-old Krempley said the decision was driven by financial considerations.

“The business model for XO was based on a small team that was easy to manage and relatively cheap to run,” he wrote. “But as the years passed by, the team kept increasing while the budget stayed the same.”

Krempley said Team XO was able to survive on a minimum annual budget of $15,000, but as the club grew and added members with each passing season, there was no corresponding rise in funding or sponsorships.

Too often, he was forced to make up budget shortfalls out of his own pocket, once having to choose between buying flowers for his wedding or sending an athlete to the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

“It’s discouraging when you can’t even get $15,000,” Krempley said. “That’s not an extraordinary amount of money.”

The decision to shut down Team XO wasn’t that surprising, especially to those closest to the situation. Former UO high jumper Kyley Johnson, one of the club’s original founders who now lives in Portland, could see it coming.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t heartbreaking, but I totally understand it,” he said. “Ross was trying to do the whole thing by himself, and when it got to be over 40 people, we just ran out of resources and he wasn’t left with much of a choice.”

Team XO had six provisional qualifiers at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in Eugene last summer. The club also competed in..... READ MORE