What would it take for the Cats to upgrade to an all-around elite CC and TF program? Good tradition in jumps, throws and combined events but lacking in elite sprinters and distance runners? Is it just a bad climate for sprinting in the Little Apple?
Relocating to a different state?
CC/T&F isn't fully funded, so the women's teams get 18 schollies and the men's teams get 12.6. So, you're dividing up those schollies among rosters of 30-40 athletes. The big population states have a massive advantage because they can offer in-state tuition and so if you're going to receive a quarter or half scholarship, that makes a big difference. If you're from Florida and have the choice between going to Florida on a 1/4 scholarship or K-State on a 3/4 scholarship, you're probably picking Florida because it's still cheaper, closer to home, etc.
So, there's that. Beyond that, I think Rovelto's approach somewhat makes sense in that you pick 1-2 events and try and be elite in those events. The problem is that the high jump isn't the best event to choose because it's not as much of a combo event as others. That's to say, an elite high jumper might be elite at another event, but that's not nearly as likely as an elite long jumper also being elite at the triple jump (which means one scholarship athlete scoring a lot of points in both events). Same thing for sprinters (100m/200m or 200m/400m or hurdlers, or throwers, etc.). Obviously, those combo athletes are the most highly desired, so it's tough.
There's also somewhat of a philosophical decision as it relates to competing at the national or conference level and which is more important. You can load up your roster with "pretty good" talent that can rack up points at a conference meet by finishing 4th-5th-6th-7th-8th, but also know that those athletes don't stand a chance at the national meet. Or, you can take the approach that the national meets matter more and throw most of your scholarships at elite athletes who can score nationally, but you probably won't do well at a conference meet because you've dumped all your scholarships into a small handful of athletes. Again, the large population states have the advantage because they can give an in-state kid a 1/4 scholarship and then give elite athletes 3/4 scholarships - a place like K-State doesn't have that luxury because there aren't a ton of elite in-state kids.
It certainly can be done, but if you look at the NCAA champions on the men's and women's sides in the last 10 years, it's mostly the same crop of schools - Florida, LSU, Oregon, A&M on the men's side and LSU, Texas, USC, Florida, Oregon on the women's side.
KU won the outdoor title on the women's side in 2013 - I don't remember for certain, but I think they had an elite sprinter, an elite thrower, a hep athlete and maybe a pole vaulter who scored most of the points for them.
Bottom line for me - it's possible, but it's always going to be an uphill challenge and it'll take a special coach like Rovelto to make it happen. That's why the indoor facility is key - there really are a limited number of elite indoor facilities around the country. If we can make ours elite and follow the Arkansas model, it could give us a huge boost.