The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced on Wednesday morning that it would be, “canceling all remaining winter championship events, including those that are currently underway,” effective immediately, in a press release.
This includes the NAIA Div. 1 men’s and women’s basketball National Tournament. The Westmont women’s basketball team was the No. 1 overall seed heading into the tournament while the Westmont men were a top-eight seed.
The release further stated that “The health and safety of our student-athletes, as well as all involved in our championship events, is the NAIA’s highest priority. We will continue to monitor COVID-19 developments and NAIA leadership will work closely with our member institutions to determine the best path forward for future NAIA events, including all spring 2020 championships.”
Div. 1 conferences such as the Big West, the Mountain West, the SEC, the Big 10 and the American Athletic Conference have also suspended their respective conference basketball tournaments as a response to the rapid outbreak of COVID-19.
Multiple schools, inclduing UC Santa Barbara, have also suspended all spring sports effective immediately.
email: Jmercado@newspress.com