This Saturday’s NCAA Division I dual meet between the home team Rutgers women and the New Hampshire women has been cancelled as a result of the pending Winter Storm Jonas bears down upon the Mid-Atlantic coastline, stretching as far inland as Indiana and southeast Nebraska.
73 million Americans, roughly one in four, are currently covered by either a blizzard watch, winter storm watch, winter storm warning, winter weather advisory, or freezing rain advisory, with conditions in at least 15 states expected to deteriorate throughout the weekend. The northern part of this region, which includes New Jersey where Rutgers is located, is expected to have the precipitation combined with cold temperatures to create blizzard-like conditions.
Instead, both teams will host intrasquad meets at their home pools the following week, and results will be combined to determine a final score for what is being deemed a “virtual meet.” The event was supposed to be the final home meet for four Rutgers seniors.
Those swimmers – Sarah Coyne (Osceola, Ind.), Sophie Newton (Leesburg, Va.), Morgan Pfaff (Red Lion, Pa.) and Joanna Wu (Kent, Wash.) – will be honored before the intrasquad meet, which is open to the public.
Many meets throughout the area have been impacted by the storm. Among them is a contest between Division III schools Randolph Macon College in Ashland, Virginia and York College (PA) that was moved to Wednesday evening in an attempt to beat the storm. snow that has already fallen in the Maryland/DC area on Wednesday night extended a 3.5 hour bus ride into an 8.5 hour bus ride by the time the team finally return to Virginia.
The team’s meet against Catholic University scheduled for Saturday has also been postponed, and Friday’s meet between Louisville and Kentucky on Saturday has been moved later in the day, to 4PM, in an attempt to avoid the weather.
I like the idea of a virtual meet but it’s still a bummer for the seniors! Congrats to them on finishing their collegiate careers!