The edict that Allison Wahrman had been dreading arrived Thursday afternoon while she was lifting weights.

A text from her track and field coach at Iowa informed Wahrman and her teammates that the NCAA would soon announce cancellations of all winter and spring sports in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

For the younger Hawkeyes, training for months with no payoff was devastating. For seniors like Wahrman whose college careers ended abruptly and without closure, it was something more.

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“It was heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking,” she told Yahoo Sports. “I only started throwing two years ago, and I was just starting to develop into an elite athlete. I still haven’t processed yet that I may have competed in my last meet.”

Primarily a triple jumper when she arrived at Iowa, Wahrman underwent ankle surgery after her freshman season and struggled as a sophomore. She picked up the hammer throw as a junior at the urging of her coaches, worked tirelessly to improve her technique, and discovered she had a talent and passion for it.

When she first learned six weeks ago that a mysterious virus had spread across China, she had no inkling that it would soon jeopardize her final season of collegiate track and field. Only after the Ivy League canceled its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments Tuesday did Wahrman begin to grow concerned.

Over the next 48 hours, the virus wreaked havoc on her life, halting classes, then practice, and finally ending her senior season two or three months prematurely. She was feeling downcast and defeated until another text message arrived from her coach, this one encouraging her not to accept that her throwing days were behind her.

Take matters into your own hands, he said.

It isn't set in stone that this year has to count against your eligibility.

Making a petition would be a good way to start.

View photos The NCAA outdoor track and field championships will not happen in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos/Getty Images) More

The push for an extra year of eligibility

Meanwhile, across America, as the unprecedented news reverberated, gears began to spin. Coaches and athletic directors worked phones. They asked their athletes, across 18 winter sports and 14 spring ones: If the NCAA were to grant outgoing seniors an additional year of eligibility, would you be interested?

On social media, athletes themselves pleaded for another shot. Former pros and Olympic medalists joined the chorus. In interviews, coaches chimed in. Three nights earlier, East Tennessee State’s 30-4 men’s basketball team had qualified for the NCAA tournament. With it now shuttered, head coach Steve Forbes said, “I will make it my mission to fight for another year of eligibility for our five seniors.”

Athletic directors seemed to be on board too. “To our spring sport seniors: In time, we will fight to reinstate your final year of eligibility,” UMass AD Ryan Bamford tweeted.

As the calls crescendoed, Wahrman pulled up Change.org and got to work. She created a petition, then shared it with teammates and friends. It quickly spread to friends of friends and beyond. Across Iowa’s campus, and then across others. It ticked past 1,000 digital signatures, then 5,000, then 10,000. It began to feel like a movement. And that evening on ESPN, UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma gave it a prominent voice.

The prospect of recompensed eligibility, Auriemma explained, had been raised even before the NCAA went nuclear. “My feeling is this,” the Hall of Famer said. “It’s an unprecedented event. So you have to take unprecedented measures.

“You can’t say this year never happened, and wipe away everything,” he continued. “Because some teams had amazing seasons, incredible accomplishments, they should not be diminished, and shouldn’t be wiped away.

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