HOUGHTON — Michigan Tech athletic director Suzanne Sanregret knows the right steps are being taken as coronavirus sweeps the nation.

But the measures used to help stop the spread — suspending collegiate tournaments — has brought a quick end to the Michigan Tech senior student-athletes.

The hockey team was en route to Mankato, Minnesota when news dropped of the WCHA suspending the tournament ahead of its semifinal series against Minnesota State. The door just closed on the airplane as the Huskies men’s basketball team traveled for its NCAA Division II Midwest Region

al game Saturday. The Huskies nordic ski team in Montana was stopped during the NCAA Championships and the tennis teams competed this week in South Carolina.

“My heart breaks for our seniors to end without really getting an ending,” Sanregret said. “I think with this hockey team in particular, they were peaking at just the right time. Not only were they and the coaches so excited to see what they could do in the postseason. To not get to see it, when they were playing so well, just breaks my heart. I think they were feeling it, going into the semifinal round with so much confidence. It’s heart-wrenching. It’s surreal. How can it end like this? At the end of the day, it’s about making sure our communities are safe. Hopefully we can look back on this someday and celebrate the success we had until this point.”

Sanregret said decisions will be made in the coming days about how the Huskies sports staff will adjust to the hiatus as virtually everything has shut down.

“We’ll be addressing some things with the Division II conference with the GLIAC about how we’re going to proceed, not only those in championship segments, but in non-championship segments,” Sanregret said. “We’ll be making decisions regarding that in the next day or so. Let our athletes know and work with our coaches and how to support them with or without competition or practices this spring. I think our biggest concern right now is making sure our athletes are in a safe environment and if any of them test positive for the virus and make sure we beef up our academic support so they can meet their requirements for an academic eligibility standpoint.”