Lynchburg, Va. -- Two weeks ago today, LaMaya Lacy and Alex Shadkhoo expected to have the opportunities of their dreams -- a chance to be named All-American.
But just prior to the two University of Lynchburg track & field stars' shining moments, the announcement came down from the NCAA.
All winter and spring championships -- including the Division III Indoor Track & Field national meet -- were canceled due to the looming COVID-19 pandemic.
"Shock and disbelief was kind of the reaction. You could tell on the faces of the athletes," Lynchburg's director of cross country and track & field, Jim Sprecher, recalled.
It was Thursday, March 12, and Lynchburg's duo of national qualifiers had just finished their pre-meet workouts at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.
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Lacy entered the meet ranked 15th in the nation in the women's 60-meter hurdles. Shadkhoo was seeded 17th in the men's 200-meter dash. Both dropped significant time in their events through the season -- Lacy broke the Lynchburg hurdles record on seven occasions during the year and finished with a season-best time of 8.90 seconds at the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships -- and were expecting to drop more time at the big meet. A top-eight finish and All-America honors were well within their grasps.
Thursday afternoon's workout had gone well, and the athletes were back at the hotel resting up before dinner. The following day, both would compete in preliminary heats with the aim of making Saturday's finals.
"Everything was normal," Sprecher said. "Some of the coaches were asking questions, but the consensus among the coaches was that everything was going to be OK."
Then, in his hotel room, Sprecher saw the news break on ESPN around 4:30 p.m. It rippled quickly through the hotel, where many of the weekend's would-be competitors were staying.
"Each time you would go down to the lobby, you would see a bunch of the athletes down there," he recalled. "You could see in their faces what had just transpired."
Sprecher and assistant coach Terry Lee Jr., had to break the news to their athletes.
"It was really devastating," Lacy said. "It was really hard to believe. I had literally just come from practice. I was mentally prepared to come back the next day and go home an All-American."
It was "like I was in some altered reality," Shadkhoo said.
When the NCAA announced Wednesday that spectators were barred from the indoor track championships, Lacy remembered talking with her disappointed mother on the phone.
"They can't cancel it," the Fluvanna County native remembered telling her mom, "because everybody's already on their way or already there."
The next day, her breakout season was over.
With a few weeks of perspective, Lacy looks back fondly on the year as a whole. In just over 26 months, the junior dropped a full second off her 60-meter hurdles time. (She ran 9.90 in her first collegiate meet in December 2017.) In 14 months, she's eliminated more than 0.7 seconds.
Last outdoor season, Lacy exploded for a third-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles at the ODAC championship meet.
Things cascaded this indoor season, culminating in her league title in the hurdles and another podium finish in the triple jump. She also scored points in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes.
"I feel like I accomplished something with the [ODAC] title," she said.
But she quickly added: "I still feel like I have something left to prove. There's still plenty left in the tank."
Shadkhoo, a sophomore from Herndon, also carried momentum into the championship meet. He was fresh off a conference title in the 200 and a month removed from his indoor-best performance in the event, a school-record 21.78-second jaunt February 15 at VMI.
"They were both on the upswing and competing at their best at the end of the season," said Sprecher. "You'll wonder what could have been."
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Hundreds of miles away in Myrtle Beach, S.C., head cross country coach Jake Reed and the rest of the Lynchburg staff were with the remainder of their team on its annual Spring Break training trip. The Hornets were set to begin their outdoor season that weekend.
"I'm glad we were there as opposed to this happening during Spring Break and the kids were at home," Sprecher said. "At least we were together, and we were able to talk through some of it.
"But it doesn't necessarily make it any easier.
"We went in and out of different phases. There were points we were disappointed and points we were angry, points we were sad. It was the emotional gamut."
For its part, the NCAA acted quickly. Less than 24 hours after it canceled the remaining championships, Division III vice president Dan Dutcher released a statement granting the division's spring athletes an eligibility waiver; graduating seniors will be able to compete next year if they opt to remain in school, either pursuing a graduate degree or furthering their undergraduate education.
Details on the eligibility questions are still being ironed out, but Sprecher said he appreciated the NCAA's quick action on the matter.
And while Lynchburg's senior class members will all determine their own paths, Sprecher opted to look back on the positives they brought to the program. The Hornet women have captured four consecutive ODAC titles. In the 2019-20 indoor season, the Lynchburg men's and women's teams combined for 25 All-South Region performances, a high-water mark for the storied program.
Sprecher said it's a testament to the hard work of the Class of 2020.
"Here they are now as seniors: They're not only the best in the ODAC but some of the best in the country," the veteran coach said.
"They did everything they could control. We're really proud of them for that. That's really what we're trying to hang our hat on right now. Look where you've come the last four years and focus on that. It took a lot of commitment, a lot of effort, a lot of faith."
The pandemic's effect on collegiate athletics continued to unfold following the March 12 announcement. Lynchburg and schools around the nation extended Spring Break by one week and moved the rest of the semester's classes online in the interest of public health. With students not returning to campuses this spring, Lynchburg and the ODAC canceled spring seasons.
For Lacy, Shadkhoo, and the remainder of the Hornets team, focus remains on staying healthy and strong through the pandemic with the aim of not breaking stride when they return to campus in the fall.
"Knowing that I was able to get to nationals once, there is not an ounce of doubt in my mind that I will be there again," Shadkhoo said. "The cancellation of my first collegiate national competition acts as a permanent reminder of what I can accomplish and what I have yet to achieve."
His coach is hoping that attitude spreads through the Lynchburg program.
"As we're trying to manage this, we're really having to rely on each other," Sprecher said. "And I think at the end of the road, some good can come from this.
"What it is and when it happens, we don't know. We'll just try to make the most of every opportunity."
--LYN--
