Seniors Erykah Weems and Samantha La Rue woke up early on March 11, got on a bus to SeaTac and flew to Birmingham, Alabama for the NCAA DII Indoor Track and Field National Championships. 

The event never happened.

The national championships were scheduled to take place on March 13-14 featuring DII track and field athletes from all over the country competing for prestigious national placement. Weems qualified for the 60-meter hurdles race and La Rue qualified for the shot put.

After landing in Alabama, getting to the hotel, and even getting in some pre-meet preparation, the two women were notified they will not have the chance to become national champions. 

On March 12, the NCAA announced they would be cancelling the remainder of all winter and spring championships.

Instead of competing in day one of the championships on March 13, Weems and La Rue flew back to Washington with feelings of confusion, disappointment and disbelief.

“My first reaction was actually that it was a joke,” La Rue said. “I totally thought people were just pulling our chains… after that wore off I was just really, really sad and very worried about how we were able to get home.”

COVID-19 has made an unprecedented impact on athletes around the world. All professional sports have been cancelled and many fans have been living life without anything to watch on TV for the past couple weeks. 

While many athletes have more years of eligibility, senior athletes usually don’t. Weems felt like the national championships were going to be her last chance at competing during an indoor season.

“It was a little emotional because it’s my senior year and running that week was going to be my last time running indoor,” Weems said. “I didn’t really know how to express my emotions but just hoped for the best.”

With the outdoor season cancelled as well this year, both Weems and La Rue had to explore  options for continuing to compete at the collegiate level. 

Weems was granted an extra season of availability as she pursues her master’s degree next year at CWU. Originally, she was going to pursue her master’s degree in 2021-22, but thought it would be best if she altered her plan and began pursuing it next year due to receiving an extra year of athletic eligibility.

However, La Rue said she can’t compete next year.

“I know for me personally in my journey, I’m probably done. I probably have nothing else left for me to go back to,” La Rue said. “Even though athletes have been granted that season back, I academically cannot make it happen so I know that I’m just done.”

In a previous interview with The Observer, Weems said going into the event that as long as she trusts the process, she will accomplish all she wants to accomplish. Even now, after her season was cancelled, that belief never wavered. 

“I 100% believe in the process. I believe that God has a purpose and he’s opening doors and shutting others,” Weems said. “I do believe there is a purpose and I still trust in the process to see where I will be next.”

Also in a previous interview with The Observer, La Rue said before the flight to Alabama that her main goal was to walk away from the event knowing she did the absolute best she could. 

“I had all these goals laid out and things I wanted to do and knowing that it can’t happen… it’s a really terrible feeling knowing I did have these plans and they were cancelled and it’s not working out,” La Rue said. “I just have to accept it and I can’t put any regret on it because it’s not my fault, it’s just the way the world is turning right now.”