Jan. 26, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Butler said Friday that it will drop its men's swimming and lacrosse programs after this school year.

"This action has been taken in order to focus our efforts and seek success in our remaining 19 sports," said Barry Collier, who became athletic director in August.

Lacrosse players can stay at Butler on their scholarships through their senior years, the school said. Scholarships are not offered for swimming at Butler, which has been using the pool at Carmel High School in suburban Indianapolis for its home meets. The programs will be discontinued on June 1.

Butler said that after eliminating the two programs it will still have more sports teams than any other school in the Horizon League, with conference schools averaging 16 teams.