One of Cardozo’s track stars will not be running for her team anymore.
Benjamin N. Cardozo High School junior, Claudia Francis, recently quit the track team an won’t be suiting up for the Judges anymore, due to ongoing disputes with her coach, Gail Emmanuel and the Cardozo coaching staff.
Francis is one of the city’s top distance runners in indoor and outdoor competitions.
“Claudia loves her teammates from Cardozo and loves to run,” said her mother, Kim. “It’s unfortunate that we have a top runner in the country that can’t run for her public school because of a conflict with the school coaching staff.”
Francis’ father, Andrew, is the director and coach for Team Evolution, a track and field organization in which Francis also competes. He thinks that the Cardozo coaching staff was wearing her out with 21 indoor meets this season – which he said would take a toll on her legs.
One of the final confrontations that Francis had with her coach erupted after she had been invited to join a U.S. relay contingent at the Kingston Relays in Jamaica, but Emmanuel pressured her to decline the invitation and run with the Cardozo team at the PSAL indoor championships.
The team really did not need Francis to win the competition because they already exceeded the first place point system to win without Francis even participating.
“I found out that they were making decisions for Claudia on behalf of us and I said that’s it … it’s the final straw,” said Andrew, who has been coaching his two daughters since they were little girls. “We hate to leave the school team, but it’s not worth it.”
Throughout her Public Schools Athletics League (PSAL) track career, Francis has dominated the competition while doing everything her coach asked of her. In one of her more recent events, she took home first in both the 800-meter and 1200-meter competitions at the Nike Outdoor Nationals.
In light of the last dispute, Francis trusted her parents’ decision on quitting the team, but still wishes she could run again with teammates.
“I really didn’t have a problem with my coach,” Francis said. “I just ran my races the best I could for the team and myself,” she added.
Francis is staying put in the high school, but will not rejoin the team at any point. Her plans for the future are to participate in events with Team Evolution and hopefully run for a top tier track and field college.
