The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) this week announced it would postpone competition in cross country, football, soccer and volleyball for the fall 2020 seasons due to concerns with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The conference is working to develop spring schedules for those sports, which were deemed at medium- or high-risk for coronavirus transmission by the NCAA.

Men’s and women’s golf were categorized as low-risk sports. Competitions in those sports will be permitted against conference opponents this fall, in accordance with campus, state and NCAA health directives and the conference’s Return-to-Athletics plan.

“Our number one priority is the health and safety of students and staff,” says Paul Pribbenow, chair of the MIAC Presidents’ Council and president of Augsburg University. “The decision to postpone competition for many of our fall sports was very difficult, as we know how much our student-athletes want to compete and how important athletics are to each of our campuses, but we need to put ourselves in a position to return to play as safely as possible.”