Just after 4 p.m. on March 12, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) announced the remainder of its winter and spring championships have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its public health threats.
This means that, currently, regular season and conference championships have a possibility of still taking place, but all NCAA Championships are canceled.
The Big South Conference has also announced in a release that there will be a meeting of the Council of Chief Executive Officers on Friday to discuss the balance of the spring season as a whole.
Also in response to COVID-19, the Longwood University athletics department announced this morning that all sporting events, both home and away, will be suspended until March 18.
"Based on the guidance from state and local officials, Longwood University has determined that the suspension of in-person classes and events requiring mandatory attendance is in the best interest of our students, campus and the Farmville community. Athletics competition falls into that category, and as such, we will suspend all home and away events through next Wednesday," said Longwood athletics director Michelle Meadows in an article from Longwood athletics. "The university will continue to monitor the situation closely and stay in regular contact with VDH to determine the best path forward and ensure the safety of our community."
Longwood baseball was set to begin their Big South Conference season Friday evening against the Highlanders of Radford, as it was to be the opening of a three game series. The set is now postponed. Also, the contest between the Lancers and Cavaliers of the University of Virginia, which was set to take place on March 17 in Charlottesville has been postponed.
Softball was also scheduled to open up their conference schedule on the road at Charleston Southern with a doubleheader on Saturday and third game on Sunday, which is now postponed. The home midweek series between the Lancers and Radford that was scheduled to start at Lancer Field on March 17 and then end the next day with the final game has also been postponed.
Men’s tennis have two matches that have been postponed (March 14 vs. Gardner-Webb and March 18 vs. Radford) and the March 15 match at Hampton has been canceled.
Women’s tennis have two matches that have been canceled (March 10 vs. Western Carolina and March 15 at Hampton) and the March 18 matchup vs. Winthrop has been postponed.
The Low Country Intercollegiate, which the women’s golf team was to be a participant of, in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina has been canceled.
The women’s lacrosse match versus Saint Francis on March 15 has been postponed.
Stay with The Rotunda for more updates on this story as it continues to develop.
Courtesy of Longwood Athletics.
