Imagine spending the majority of a decade striving for a single athletic achievement, and less than 24 hours before that moment arrives, your dream evaporates into thin air.
That is the current bitter reality for thousands of NCAA athletes whose winter championships or entire springs seasons have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Think about all the upperclassmen, like Colorado State distance runner Eric Hamer, who qualified for the NCAA indoor championships for the first time this season as a fifth-year Rams senior.
Hamer, seeded 14th in the 5,000-meter final, was in Albuquerque, N.M, on Thursday morning preparing for Friday night’s race as the NCAA shifted from no fans allowed, to event postponement, to complete cancellation.