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The coronavirus is increasingly disrupting college athletics, most notably in the Northeast. The Ivy League announced on Wednesday that it was canceling all athletics practices and competitions for the remainder of the spring season. In college golf, automatic qualifying spots in NCAA regionals are awarded at both the Ivy League men’s and women’s championships. It remains unclear what will happen to those postseason spots.
The League announced the move on Wednesday, calling it a unanimous decision made by Ivy League Presidents in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Several Ivy League institutions have also announced that students will not return to campus after spring break, instead finishing out the semester through virtual classes.
A representative for the Ivy League did not immediately return a message left by Golfweek.
Wednesday’s announcement from the Ivy League came shortly before the NCAA declared it would hold its men’s and women’s March Madness basketball tournaments in empty gymnasiums, an unprecedented occurrence.
“The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said in a statement. “Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance.”
On Tuesday, Iowa’s women’s golf team announced it would not host its annual Hawkeye El Tigre Invitational in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, due to travel concerns related to the virus. Iowa and a handful of other teams will instead play in Las Vegas next week.
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