The Fall of Spring Sports

D3Playbook MARCH 12, 2020 | written by STEVE ULRICH your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III Our goal is to keep you - the influencers in DIII athletics - apprised of what's happening around Division III - the games, polls, news, happenings, awards, calendar of events, and much more. We hope you enjoy d3Playbook and that you'll share this with your friends, colleagues and co-workers. >> Good Thursday Morning!  What a year yesterday was. >> Today's Word Count: 1,098. Brief, concise. Easy to digest. >> Thanks for reading D3Playbook. Please recommend us to a friend or co-worker. Or share with your staff and bring them up-to-speed on what's happening in DIII. Subscribe to d3Playbook 1. The Fall of Spring Sports Where do we begin? The last 24 hours has seen a flurry of colleges and universities making decisions to stem the advance of COVID-19 and making social distancing a new part of our lexicon. Tom Hanks and his wife have the coronavirus and the NBA has suspended its season. The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) fired one of the first salvos, canceling the spring sports season for its 11 schools. Other institutions, such as  DePauw, MIT, Rochester, and Trinity (Texas) have pulled the plug on their spring campaigns, while many others has suspended activity until further notice. It appears that many conference members are leaning on each other for support, as the future of those seasons are currently being decided in executive committee. "Each institution will respond in ways that depend on their size, their wealth, the characteristics of their constituencies and the likely risk associated with this virus," John Lombardi, former president of the University of Florida and the Louisiana State University system, as well as the author of How Universities Work, said via email to InsideHigherEd.com. "Small, rich, liberal arts colleges can do lots of things without much fallout because they have money, because they often are highly risk averse, and because they may well believe their [students'] parents are especially risk averse." >> Be Smart: All told, the COVID-19 outbreak looks to get worse before it gets better and we may have to come to grips with the fact that the 2020 seasons will be truncated at best and eliminated at worst. 2.  Essential Staff and Limited Family "The NCAA COVID-19 Advisory Panel recognizes the fluidity of COVID-19 and its impact on hosting events in a public space. COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in the United States, and behavioral risk mitigation strategies are the best option for slowing the spread of this disease. This is especially important because mildly symptomatic individuals can transmit COVID-19. Given these considerations, coupled with a more unfavorable outcome of COVID-19 in older adults – especially those with underlying chronic medical conditions – we recommend against sporting events open to the public. We do believe sport events can take place with only essential personnel and limited family attendance, and this protects the players, employees, and fans." 3.  Smarts DePauw’s Sydney Kopp headlines the 2019-20 Academic All-America® NCAA Division III women's basketball teams as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and announced Wednesday. Kopp, a political science major from Burr Ridge, Illinois, has been named as the Academic All-America® NCAA Division III for women’s basketball. Kopp is the NCAC Player of the Year and a Jostens Award finalist after leading DePauw to a perfect 16-0 league record and the 2020 NCAC championship. A three-time first team All-NCAC honoree, Kopp led all players in scoring and was seventh in rebounding. First Team Taite Anderson, Bethel, 3.7, Biokinetics Sydney Kopp, DePauw, 3.75, Political Science Katie McShea, Marymount, 4.0, Biology Yuleska Ramirez-Tejada, Emmanuel, 3.89, Criminal Justice Eva Reinertsen, UW-Superior, 4.00, Social Work >> Complete Team Muskingum’s Marcus Dempsey headlines the 2019-20 Academic All-America® NCAA Division III men’s basketball teams as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and announced Wednesday. Dempsey, a junior business management major from Zanesville, Ohio, has been named as the Academic All-America® NCAA Division III for men’s basketball. Dempsey, a 2018 third team Academic All-America®, earns his second AAA nod this year after averaging 30.6 points per game on his way to a second All-OAC first team honor. In 2017-18, he finished third in the nation in scoring and he is currently second in the country this season. First Team Booker Coplin, Augsburg, 3.6, Biopsychology Marcus Dempsey, Muskingum, 3.89, Business Management Kena Gilmour, Hamilton, 3.7, Government Matthew Kirmse, Milwaukee School of Engineering, 4.00, Business Administration Conor Riordan, Simpson, 3.94, Mathematics >> Complete Team SPONSORED MESSAGE Would you like to sponsor this newsletter? Would you like to advertise an open position in your department for a head coach or administrator? Contact d3playbook@gmail.com to get your job opening in front of decision-makers in small-college athletics. 4. Softball Poll  The latest NFCA Division III poll has been released. East Texas Baptist (15-0) Texas Lutheran (17-1) Christopher Newport (12-1) Illinois Wesleyan (7-1) Virginia Wesleyan (11-1) Eastern Connecticut (0-0) Linfield (12-2) Central (6-1) Kean, tie (9-1) Williams, tie (0-0) 11-15: Mary Hardin-Baylor, Salisbury, DePauw, Carthage, Geneseo. 16-20: Transylvania, Berry, Tufts, Randolph-Macon, MSOE, St. John Fisher. 22-25: Manhattanville, Ferrum, Wartburg, Emory. >> Climbing: UMHB (+8), Carthage (+6). >> Welcome to the Neighborhood: Transylvania, Berry, MSOE, St. John Fisher, Wartburg, Emory. 5.   About Last Night       (W) #8 Norwich (23-4-2) advanced to the next round in the NCAA women's ice hockey tournament with a 3-1 victory at #9 Amherst behind a two-goal effort by Kelley Madden. Next up - #1 Plattsburgh State.   (W) #5 UW-River Falls (22-5-2) moved on in the tournament with a convincing 4-1 win over #4 Gustavus Adolphus. Hailey Herdine and Julia Stelljes scored in a 74-second span of the third period to break open a 1-1 game. Next up - #3 UW-Eau Claire.   (M) #9 Gettysburg scored the game's final four goals, including the game-winner from Michael McCormick with :47 remaining to down Washington and Lee, 12-11.   (M) Kerry Lyne scored five times and assisted on another to power #10 Union (4-1) to a 16-11 victory over #12 St. John Fisher.   (W) Courtney Patterson tallied the game-winning goal with 1:50 left in overtime to power #6 Gettysburg (4-1) past #7 Salisbury, 12-11.   (W) Madeline McHugh scored seven goals and handed out six assists as North Central (Ill.) improved to 5-0 with a 20-2 win over Benedictine.   Sophomore Kamryn McCool faced one batter over the minimum in twirling a no-hitter as Mount St. Joseph (7-6) blanked Carthage, 2-0. She fanned 13, allowing just one runner to reach base via a HBP in handing the Lady Reds their first loss of the season. 5.  Comings and Goings Ryan Hall named head men's water polo coach at Redlands. Nnenna Akotaobi resigned as associate athletic director at Swarthmore to accept position as acting executive director of Black Women in Sport Foundation. Kyle Gurganious resigned as assistant commissioner of the Atlantic East Conference. 6.  1 Food Thing  Beginning tomorrow, McDonald's will add a four-patty Double Big Mac to its menu for a limited time, per CNN. The Double Big Mac, which costs $5.49, has 720 calories and 43 grams of fat. A regular Big Mac (two patties) costs $3.99 and has 540 calories and 30 grams of fat. Subscribe to d3Playbook

Know someone that would enjoy receiving d3Playbook? Send an email to d3Playbook@gmail.com with "subscribe" in the subject line