COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) announced Thursday afternoon, the postponement of all 2020 Fall seasons except cross country and golf until the Spring of 2021 due to precautions surrounding COVID-19.

This follows Wednesday's announcement regarding the cancelation of all seven of NCAA Division II's fall 2020 championships.

"COVID-19 related decisions are tough when there is so much out of our control in the situation," said Black Hills State University Athletic Director, Jhett Albers. "We at Black Hills State are going to focus on creating and sustaining a healthy, safe and positive environment to keep enhancing our student athlete experience."

For BHSU, this means the football, women's soccer and volleyball schedules will be postponed until the spring. Men's and women's cross country, women's golf and rodeo currently remain as scheduled for the fall.

The RMAC released the following statement:

"In a meeting earlier today, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Presidents' Council postponed conference schedules and championships for fall sports (Football, Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer, Volleyball) to the spring semester except for cross country which shall compete as originally scheduled. Additionally, the Council agreed that men's and women's golf could continue its non-championship segment competition this fall.

"After considerable deliberation, the Council's decision was made based on the recent National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Board of Governors' mandate of the NCAA Resocialization principles and the Division II Presidents Council decision to cancel fall championships. The RMAC decision allows league members further opportunity to align with the student-athlete safety measures outlined in the NCAA document to prepare for competition.

"The determination on sport status was made based on the NCAA risk rankings of sport. As it stands currently with NCAA guidance, cross country and golf are lower risk than all other fall sports. Further details on the structure and scope of the spring semester practice and competition schedules for postponed sports will be released in the coming weeks.

"Practice opportunities will be available in the fall semester for fall sport student-athletes per Division II rules and at the discretion of each RMAC member institution. As has been the case throughout the past five months, the RMAC will continue to monitor local and national developments regarding health and safety, along with association guidance to make any necessary adjustments moving forward.

"Member representatives and conference officials understand the significant impact these decisions have on our student-athletes and stand ready to provide support and guidance in any way possible. Questions related to eligibility, scholarships and academics should be directed to member institutions as always."

Follow BHSUathletics.com for additional updates as they come.