Carleton College became the first Division III school in Minnesota to cancel fall sports, announcing the decision Friday and joining scores of others making similar moves during the pandemic.
"It's heartbreaking," Carleton athletic director Gerald Young said. "But it's the right decision. We need to try the best we can to have a safe campus for everybody. It's not in our best interest right now to have outside competition and travel."
The Northfield school is the only one among the MIAC's 13 members to inform the league of a decision to cease fall competition, Commissioner Dan McKane said Friday by phone.
Carleton's move, though, could still be a sign of things to come for the conference. Division III leagues are shutting down for the fall across the country.
"For the MIAC, at this point we still plan to play this fall," McKane said. "We are having meetings next week to take a look at what fall would look like and how we adapt and adjust to [COVID-19]-era athletics. At this point, we are still planning to play this fall, but I believe that window is becoming very narrow for us."
The MIAC is communicating with the NCAA on ideas to "reshape what collegiate athletics might look like for the next year," McKane said. One possibility is to move fall sports to the spring.
"It's being discussed as an opportunity for us," he said. "We're still seeing if NCAA championships are on for the fall as well. At this point they are."
Earlier this week, the Centennial Conference became the first NCAA conference to cancel fall sports; the conference consists of 11 private Division III schools in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
