SEATTLE – The NCAA announced on Thursday that it is cancelling all of its winter and spring championships across all of Divisions I, II and III, effective immediately.
 
For Seattle Pacific, that includes the Division II West Region men's basketball tournament in La Jolla, California, and the indoor track and field championships in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
This afternoon, the NCAA released the following statement:
 












Stopping the spring championships affects the Falcons rowing and track & field teams, which had national competitions scheduled for late May.
 
More immediately impacted was the SPU men's basketball team that traveled to Southern California on Wednesday for the West Regional and an anticipated first-round matchup with Chico State on Friday. Their season ends with a 22-7 record and regular-season GNAC championship.
 
At the indoor track meet, Dania Holmberg was entered in the 3000- and 5000-meter races, and Peace Igbonagwam qualified for the national long jump competition.
 
"While today's unprecedented decision by the NCAA to cancel our winter and spring championships is certainly something that nobody hoped would be a reality for our student-athletes, the circumstances in our country necessitated this decision," said SPU athletic director Jackson Stava.
 
"The health and safety of our students, staff, coaches, and communities must be paramount in this historic time. SPU is currently in the process of working with the NCAA to ensure our student-athletes and coaches from the sports of Indoor track & field and men's basketball return to campus as quickly and safely as possible."
 
Also on Thursday, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference said that it is suspending all spring athletic competition "until further notice," effective Friday.
 
On Wednesday, SPU announced the cancellation of the Falcon Regatta, which had been set for Saturday morning, and the Doris Heritage Track Festival, scheduled for March 21.
 
Earlier Thursday, the Seattle Pacific-Washington gymnastics meet, slated for Saturday afternoon at the UW, was cancelled. The Falcons gymnasts also had next week's meet called off when the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opted to cancel all remaining winter sports competition, including the MPSF women's gymnastics meet that was slated for March 21.
 
The news from the NCAA was the latest in a slew of announcements by major sports entities that competition is being halted in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
 
On Wednesday night, the National Basketball Association said it was suspending its season for an indefinite time. The National Hockey League announced an indefinite suspension on Thursday morning, and Major League Soccer is suspending its schedule for at least the next 30 days.
 
Late Thursday morning, Major League Baseball announced it was cancelling the rest of spring training and delaying the start of the season by at least two weeks to no earlier than April 9.