Owens Community College has suspended fall and winter practice and games, it announced Thursday.
“This decision was made in consideration of the health and welfare of our athletes and with the understanding of the disruption the COVID-19 situation could have on the teams’ recruitment and training schedule,” the college said.
The suspension includes men’s and women’s basketball plus volleyball, though the college said volleyball might be moved to the spring.
An Owens spokesman said school president Steve Robinson and coaches were not available for comment.
The volleyball team is coming off back-to-back National Junior College Athletic Association Division III national titles. It was the first time an Owens team claimed consecutive national titles since the men's basketball team did so in 1991-92 and 1992-93.
The volleyball team has 18 Ohio Community College Athletic Conference titles and the past five seasons has won the NJCAA Region XII championship.
Volleyball coach Sonny Lewis completed his 20th season leading the Express in 2019 and has compiled a record of 711-200 during that time.
In 2019-20, the men’s basketball team was 15-15 with a 6-5 record in the OCCAC. The women’s basketball team was 10-14 overall and 6-3 in the conference.
The college says it will resume athletic competition in the spring if it is safe to do so.
The only spring sports at Owens are baseball and softball, which were suspended in the spring of 2016 before returning for the 2018-19 season.
First Published May 14, 2020, 9:57 p.m.
