Switcheroo: Northern Sun gives up fall sports

BURNSVILLE, Minn. — The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference switched signals and canceled all fall sports because of the coronavirus. Only last week the conference’s board of governors had left it to individual schools to decide whether to go forward with a fall season as long as they followed virus prevention and care standards. The result was an impossible mishmash of conference, division and championship policies, which became further complicated with NCAA rule changes. Conference commissioner Erin Lind said the governing board, comprised of college presidents and athletic directors, eventually reached the inevitable conclusion that fall competition wasn’t possible. The vote to suspend competition is through December 31 was unanimous. “The league’s initial decision to delay the start of fall sports was made with the rationale to allow campuses the ability to focus solely on reopening safely for their broader university communities,” Lind said. The Northern Sun has 16 member colleges, including Winona State.

Earlier: Northern Sun football late at best