In Birmingham, Division 2 Athletes And Coaches Were Stunned By Loss Of Indoor Championships

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

At a quarter past 4 o'clock on Thursday, March 12, Derek Holdsworth was riding back to the team hotel in a van when his Western Oregon teammate, Justin Crosswhite, spoke up from a seat behind him. 

"It's over, boys. That's it."

Crosswhite, of course, was holding his phone and looking at the fateful tweet sent out by the NCAA to announce that winter sports championships – including the NCAA Division 2 Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala. – were canceled. Over before they started. Kaput. 

Across Birmingham, at the Crossplex where the championships were to be held, in hotels hosting teams, and in at least one van, the news hit like a sledgehammer to hundreds of athletes and their coaches and families. 

In the previous 24 hours, the stable ground beneath the American sports landscape had begun to shift, and then slide. 

The National Basketball Association season had been suddenly suspended, followed by announcements soon after by Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. The New Balance Nationals Indoor high school championships had been canceled. The Boston Marathon was postponed. The viability of the Olympic Games was shaken.

All because of a virus that on March 12 had zero known cases in the state of Alabama. 

Holdsworth and other athletes could see the cracks in the foundation but still felt like their championship meet could adhere and move forward. Already, the annual banquet for attending teams had been canceled. That was followed by the announcement that there would be no spectators allowed in to view the two-day meet. 

Holdsworth was a rare sixth-year NCAA athlete who had been awarded a final season (indoors) of eligibility last summer after a circuitous route that included a delayed entry into college, junior college and injuries. Birmingham was to be his one and only opportunity to compete in an NCAA championship and he was a prohibitive favorite to win the 800 meters after running 1:47.74 on Feb. 1 in Seattle – more than second faster than anyone in Division 2. 

What he cared about more than the 800 was the Distance Medley Relay, where the outcome was less assured.

"I was in the front seat, the passenger seat, and (coach Mike) Johnson was driving," said Holdsworth, remembering Crosswhite's words. "I turned around and looked at everybody. That was probably the hardest moment of the whole trip, realizing, we're ready."

The tears that flowed in the van carrying Western Oregon's athletes to the hotel were happening all over a confused country. 

In Ohio, the Division 2 swimming championships were already a day old when the news hit that the event was halted. 

The Colorado School of Mines track team had sent one group of athletes Wednesday to Birmingham and the team's distance runners flew down on March 12. 

"Thursday morning, it was just strange," fifth-year senior Grant Colligan said. "When we left the Denver airport, the meet was still on and spectators were still allowed. By the time we got off the plane in Birmingham, no spectators."

During a two-hour flight to Alabama, a lot was going on. 

"We landed and I turned my phone on and I had a text from my dad asking, 'Can I still watch?' And there was an email from coach (Matt) Sparks saying tell your parents they can't come."

From the Birmingham airport, the Orediggers went straight to the Crossplex to find out what was going on. 

"When we got to the track it seemed pretty normal. A couple of teams were there getting ready," Colligan said. "We changed into our running clothes and ran about five miles outside and then did about two strides. One of the field event athletes came over and said, 'Hey guys, there's no meet.' I thought he was screwing with us."

Colligan had tripped and fallen 200 meters into the start of the 2018 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. In 2019, he had been injured for all three seasons. Indoors of 2020 was all that he had left. 

Why Are They Canceling Now? 

Lincoln University of Missouri, an Historically Black College and University founded by African-American veterans of the Civil War in 1866, had big plans for Birmingham. 

Led by an exceptional group of Jamaican athletes, the men's team was ranked No. 1 and going for its first national championship on the strength of its jumpers. Ryan Brown was the top entrant in both the long and triple jump and there were big points awaiting the team in both events. The women's team was ranked No. 2 and led by a talented sprint corps headed by Rene Medley. 

Head coach Victor Thomas had everything lined up – he believed his men's team was primed to sweep the indoor and outdoor championships in 2020 and 2021. 

"Track athletes can let you down with a bad race," Thomas said. "Jumpers just need one good jump."

But they never got that chance. 

Thomas attended the coaches' meeting Thursday afternoon as everyone still clung to hope that the meet would go on as planned. 

"All the coaches said, 'We are already here, already interacting with one another,'" Thomas said. "Why are they canceling now?"

After the meeting ended with no definitive answers, Thomas and his crew headed back to the hotel. 

"I was there, chilling," he said. "Then one of the kids called and told me it was canceled."

Another men's team that was primed to go for the title was the Colorado School of Mines, also seeking its first national crown. 

"We were uniquely positioned for this meet, especially for our institution," Mines coach Matt Sparks said. "It was one of those things where your try to be smart and pick your moment. We had red-shirted certain kids and this winter we were making sure they were ready for a run at the title. It was the perfect storm for us."

The team had Connor McLean, easily the best multi-athlete and also a big scorer in the pole vault. Jake Pinkston was the reigning outdoor champion in the pole vault. 

And there was also a crew of distance runners, like Colligan, populating the mile, the 3,000 and the 5,000. 

"We had never been a podium team before in track," Sparks said. "If everything went perfect, we could possibly have gotten 50 points and won the national title. Our kids were pumped and excited."

From a home base at the Holiday Inn in Homewood, Ala., Sparks tried to stay on top of the shifting information. 

Wednesday night's news, with the professional sports leagues shutting down, was a bad omen. 

It pointed directly to the fear that the NCAA's marquee event, March Madness, would come under the knife next. 

"If the pros are cancelling, the amateurs are next," Sparks remembered thinking. "We kind of saw the dominoes falling. Everything was minute by minute."

The Orediggers were in the Crossplex working out when the news came. 

"I was on the phone with my athletic director," Sparks said. "The biggest thing we were talking about: How do you tell the athletes, and the seniors?"

Minnesota-Duluth coach Laura Harmon had only one athlete with her in Birmingham, sophomore Haleigh Reindl, who qualified in the 800 meters. 

Harmon expressed frustration with how the news was delivered. 

"I do believe they made the right decision in the end," she said. "But I thought the way the NCAA handled it was abysmal. They just put it up on Twitter without any explanation. It was awful and really confusing. I felt like they should have communicated with the people who were participating. I think it could have been handled in a more sensitive way because it was an emotional thing for everybody involved."

Ultimately, the public's need to know superseded everything as an unprecedented day with no handbook unfolded. The Division 2 meet was swept up in the tsunami.

You Could Hear The Hearts Breaking

Grand Valley State (Mich.) came to Birmingham ranked No. 1 on the women's side, with big scoring potential in the sprints (Nicole Sreenan) and distance (Allie Ludge) events, plus relays and field events. 

It was a deep and well-rounded team that never got a chance to hoist a trophy. 

Another of the big guns in the women's meet, University of Mary (N.D.) senior Ida Narbuvoll, recalled feeling safe and secure that the meet was going to happen. Her parents, at home in Norway, were more concerned with the encroaching Coronavirus than she was. 

"I think they were realizing that what was going on (in Europe) might happen here, too," Narbuvoll said. "I never thought it would come to that point. We were so close to the championships."

Narbuvoll got through Thursday's practice session still confident that the meet would happen. She felt ready, and safe. 

She and her teammates left the Crossplex, grabbed some lunch, and went back to the hotel. 

When the word came, that the championships were shut down and the spring season was canceled, the emotion reverberated from one room to the next. 

"It felt like you could hear the hearts breaking," Narbuvoll said. "I was thinking about every thing that everyone has gone through to get to that point, and then it just goes away."

In another hotel room, Kaylee Bogina of Adams State was touching up her makeup in the bathroom when the news hit. 

"HaLeigh (Hunter-Galvan) and I were sobbing," Bogina said. "It's terrible to compare it to somebody dying, but that's as close to a feeling (that) as I could feel. Our hearts were broken. It was like a bad breakup."

Adams State, like dozens of other teams, quickly assembled for meetings for which there were few words.

"Everyone wants to hug the seniors and that didn't go well because we just cried harder," Bogina said. 

"I can't put it into words how it felt, and don't think I still can. I'm still in shock that we didn't run indoors (nationals)."

Let That Emotion Out

While there are few guarantees at a national championships meet, Trevor Bassitt of Ashland University (Ohio) was practically money in the bank. 

The junior was the top-ranked entrant in the 60-meter hurdles, the 400 meters, second in the 200. The Ashland 4x400 was ranked third. 

"We were confident about going for the (team) title," Bassitt said. 

He and his teammates had flown down to Alabama on Wednesday and checked into the Hyatt Regency, a luxury accomodation for a NCAA Division II team. 

"It was super fancy," he said. 

He was prepared for a busy couple of days. (The notes from his phone are shown here).

Bassitt was in his hotel room when the tweets struck. 

"I remember seeing the statement come out and I read it two or three times to make sure I didn't miss anything," he said. "I couldn't believe they canceled the spring championships (as well)."

For the next couple of hours, Bassitt felt numb. His phone was pinging with notifications from people trying to reach him. He talked to some of his teammates and friends on other teams. 

At 7 p.m. that evening, coach Jud Logan assembled the Ashland group for a meeting in the lobby of the hotel. 

"I remember enough time had passed for us to digest the news, but when (Logan) started talking to us, it started to get really emotional," Bassitt said. "If things had gone to plan, it could have been an historic meet for me as an individual and for the team. One of the things he said was that it's OK to be upset, to let that emotion out."

Ashland's group went out to Dave and Buster's restaurant that night. They hung out, took photos wearing the clothes they had originally brought for the banquet, and played games. 

Bassitt had a moment where he was fired up about gathering some top competitors and driving to the Crossplex to have it out with some racing. But it quickly faded.

Holdsworth, of Western Oregon, also made overtures to other teams to see if there was anyone that wanted to race a DMR. There were no takers. 

The group from Colorado School of Mines went to a steakhouse. The school's AD had instructed Sparks to enjoy a meal with his team and to spare no expense. 

As night fell, there was little rest. Coaches scrambled to get new itineraries for travel home Friday. The NCAA's travel agency was swamped. 

"I remember we all ended up meeting, unplanned, at 1 a.m. in the lobby of the hotel," Bassitt said. "That's when people got their emotions out. Seniors who had nothing left. Others who were there for their first one. We were there until 2:30 or 3 o'clock."

Athletes from other schools also wandered through the hallways or passed through the lobby. Bassitt looked at them, met their gaze, and nodded. 

"It was an unspoken thing."

A Day I Will Never Forget

Ashland University officials instructed the coaches to avoid air travel. 

Instead, the team rented vans and began a long drive north to Ohio on Friday morning. 

The group from Norwood University in Michigan did the same thing, but the trek was even longer. 

"Fifteen hour drive," said Mason Phillips, a contender to sweep the 60 and the 200 that weekend. "Long drive."

It was a bittersweet journey home. Time for bonding and discussion before the isolation that was soon to come. But little, if any, closure. 

"We talked about everything on that drive," Phillips said. "What the plans are next. What we're going to do moving forward."

(Two months later, a pair of dams in Michigan were overwhelmed by heavy rains and flood waters rushed into the Norwood campus, causing untold damage. The track was at one point under eight feet of water. Some of Phillips' friends and teammates were evacuated from campus and moved into hotels).

Bassitt, who had such high expectations for the indoor and outdoor championships, had to settle for the consolation of being named the NCAA Division 2 Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA. 

But the hard work that went into the winter season never got a chance to be shown. 

"Honestly, that's the one thing. I don't think I have, or will ever, feel closure for it," Bassitt said. "What I was expecting myself to do, and to have four of the best D2 200-meter runners ever coming together, that not knowing ... everyone thinks they're going to win and then not getting to find out."

The athletes who were in Birmingham know what they lost and it's a feeling that sticks with them more than two months later. 

"It's a day I will never forget," Narbuvoll said. "For many athletes who were there, it was a defining moment in your life and your career. You have to decide how you are going to handle it and how you are going to respond to it."

The only way forward was to start moving. 

"I had never lost a race before I stepped on the track before," Holdsworth said. "I closed the door on (the meet) the second I got on the plane to come back home. I'm the type of person, I'm only going to be upset about it for as long as the race is going. This situation, it's totally out of my control. So you must keep moving forward. Focus on the next workout and the next classroom assignment."