A little more than a year ago, Casey Malone said he worked almost to the 11th hour putting the finishing touches on a refurbished Potts Field ahead of Colorado’s final appearance at the Pac-12 outdoor track and field championships.

Yet the continuing overhaul of the college athletics landscape is going to put a dent into the number of athletes calling the newly-remodeled Potts Field home. And it is costing the University of Colorado two of the most recognizable faces within the Buffaloes’ track and field program.

With new roster limits on the horizon and CU athletics opting to double-down on the Buffs’ historical prowess as a distance-running powerhouse, the Colorado athletic department is eliminating the positions held by track and field assistants Casey Malone and Lindsey Malone.

The last day for Casey Malone, CU’s throws coach for two decades, was slated for Friday. Lindsey Malone, the combined events and jumps coach for nearly 20 years, will coach through next week’s NCAA outdoor track and field championships in Eugene, Ore.

The Buffs have two men’s athletes set to compete in combined events at the finals — Kole Mathison in the steeplechase and Nick Bianco in the decathlon.

While CU isn’t dropping its indoor and outdoor track and field programs, the elimination of the jobs held by the Malones represents a major domino to fall within CU athletics as programs across the country await the finalization of the House settlement, which will reshape roster limits and force athletic departments to reexamine and potentially reorganize the allotment of resources.

A departmental email obtained by BuffZone sent on Thursday by CU senior associate athletic director Tracy Tripp read, in part, “While changes like this are never easy, this shift will allow us to better align our resources with a renewed focus on distance and cross country — areas in which CU has consistently been a national leader.”

In regard to the elimination of the Malones’ jobs, Tripp added the move “was not made lightly and is in no way a reflection of their performance, dedication, or character.”

A native of Wheat Ridge, Casey Malone was a four-time All-American at Colorado State in the discus and qualified for the Olympics in 2004 and 2008, finishing sixth in 2004. Casey competed in 21 consecutive US Outdoor Championships through 2016. At CU, eight throwers qualified for the NCAA championships under Casey’s watch.

Lindsey Malone, who also starred at CSU, helped guide Andrew Ghizzone to an MPSF heptathlon championship in 2018, the first combined event conference championship in program history. In 2019, Maja Wichhart-Donzo and Michaela Wenning became the first Buffs duo in more than 20 years to compete in the same combined event at nationals.

More recently, Lindsey helped mentor Avery McMullen through four consecutive NCAA appearances, first in the long jump in 2021 followed by three consecutive berths in the heptathlon. McMullen finished 10th in 2023 and 11th last year. Lindsey served as an assistant coach in 2024 for USA Track and Field at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in China, and she also is the artist behind the colorful buffalo mural that adorns the concourse at the CU Events Center.