MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (KCRG) – Two college sports conferences made major announcements impacting fall sports for certain schools in eastern Iowa due to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Midwest Conference, which includes Cornell College and Grinnell College in eastern Iowa, announced that they canceled fall sports for its member schools, along with a delay for winter sports. In total, intercollegiate athletic competition will be suspended until at least January 1, 2021.

“We did everything we could over the past couple of months to develop schedules, event management protocols and testing policies so that we could compete this fall,” Heather Benning, the conference’s executive director, said, in a statement. “However, due to the recent sustained surge of cases across the country, and a lack of guaranteed access to timely and reliable testing with the frequency recommended by the NCAA, the Conference does not feel it is in a position to sponsor intercollegiate athletic competition at this time.” 

The Missouri Valley Conference, which includes the University of Northern Iowa and Drake University in the state, also issued a statement on Monday, delaying the start of non-football fall sports competition until September 18. No changes were made to the schedules of the league’s winter and spring sports.

Practices for impacted sports in the Missouri Valley will delay their start until after August 17.

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