The next wave of alterations to sports schedules in response to the spread of the coronavirus included Johns Hopkins, Towson and the Patriot League making decisions about its spring sports that will impact Maryland athletics.
Though Maryland Athletics made the decision Wednesday to ban spectators from competition until at least April 10, the latest moves from Johns Hopkins, Towson and the Patriot League will have further impact on Terps sports.
Johns Hopkins, which plays in the Big Ten conference for men’s and women’s lacrosse, announced Thursday that it’s suspending spring sports until at least April 12.
[Read more: Big Ten Conference cancels remainder of men’s basketball tournament]
Maryland women’s lacrosse was scheduled to travel to Baltimore on April 4 to play the Blue Jays.
Meanwhile, the men’s lacrosse game between the two schools, which is one of the sport’s most storied rivalries, is scheduled to take place on April 25. While that date is not yet impacted by the coronavirus, both schools will continue to monitor the situation. If that matchup doesn’t take place, it would be the first year without the annual game since 1945, when World War II precluded the contest.
Towson suspended the remainder of its spring sports schedule for each team, saying in a press release that the university was “following suit with several conferences and schools across the country on the recommendations of health officials and medical professionals to reduce the risk from the COVID-19 outbreak.”
[Read more: No fans will be allowed at NCAA tournament games amid coronavirus concern]
The Terps’ baseball team was scheduled to play Towson for a midweek game on May 5.
And the Patriot League, as an entire conference, announced Thursday that it is canceling the entirety of the spring sports schedule, taking the same approach the Ivy League did on Wednesday,
“Recognizing that the health and safety of our students and broader communities is our priority, and based on the ongoing spread of COVID 19 (2019 novel Coronavirus), the Patriot League Council of Presidents has made the difficult and challenging decision to cancel all spring athletics practices and competitions through the remainder of the academic year,” the conference said in a statement.
Maryland’s track and field team was scheduled to compete at Patriot League facilities on March 28 at the Navy Springtime Invitational and on April 10 at the Bucknell Bison Invite.
