Earlier today, both Pomona College and Scripps College announced that they will not be bringing students back to their respective campuses this fall. Instead, classes will stay remote for the fall of 2020. Both universities reside in Los Angeles County, an area that has seen a notable surge in COVID-19 cases as of late.
Pomona College partners with Pitzer College to field athletics teams at the Division III level. Together, the two colleges compete as the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens.
Pitzer College is expected to make announcement regarding their plans for the fall semester on July 17th. One source close to the situation does not expect athletics for the Sagehens to occur this fall regardless of Pitzer's decision.
The Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens were the men's NCAA D3 Cross Country National Champions last fall after defeating North Central by 18 points. The women's team finished 12th at the national meet.
Much like Pomona College and Pitzer College, Scripps College (which is an all-women's school) works in conjunction with Claremont McKenna College and Harvey Mudd College to field athletics teams at the Division III level. Together, the three universities form the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags (men) and Athenas (women).
The CMS Stags finished 6th at the D3 NCAA XC Championships last fall while the CMS Athenas placed 20th at the same meet.
On July 1st, both Claremont McKenna College and Harvey Mudd College announced plans for their students to return to campus later this fall, although both schools acknowledged that their plans were conditional and dependent on permission from state authorities.
As a result, CMS Athletics released an announcement stating that "high-risk" sports would not compete this fall. Despite cross country being deemed as a "low-risk" sport, CMS Athletics noted that Los Angeles County had "not currently met the state or local gating criteria recommended to resume intercollegiate athletics."