Academics, Not Dancing, Will Keep Rios Sidelined

Leilani Rios, who was kicked off the women’s track and cross-country teams at Cal State Fullerton for a year and a half because she worked as an exotic dancer, is ineligible to compete in the school’s season-opening cross-country meet on Saturday at Carbon Canyon Park in Brea.

Rios, 21, was allowed to rejoin Fullerton’s cross-country and track teams in June after her attorney threatened a lawsuit over her removal from those programs. But she has not met all of the NCAA’s academic requirements for athletic eligibility.

“She’s looking into what she would have to do to be eligible this season,” Fullerton Coach John Elders said. “It hasn’t been ruled out that she will be able to compete this season.” Rios, whose notoriety led to a pictorial that will appear in the October issue of Playboy, hopes to clear up her academic standing in two to three weeks.

“It’s going to take time,” she said. “But no matter what, I’ll definitely be running for the team during track season.”

Elders told Rios in January of 2000 that she had to quit her part-time job as an exotic dancer at the Flamingo Theater in Anaheim or stop running for Fullerton. Rios continued dancing, which Elders said violated part of the university’s conduct code.