Longer run up in the Chuckanuts out to Lost Lake. I got some very bad news today. Due to my health history with Crohn's disease, I petitioned the NCAA for a 6th year of eligibility, and today I finally received word that I was being denied. The logic of their explanation seems erroneous to me, and I plan to fight it if I can. By their ruling, they have effectively shortened the length of my eligibility from 5 years to 4. How do you fight the NCAA's own committee? They're supposed to be the experts in this. I started college in '04 and tried out for XC but was cut. Then I went on an LDS mission, developed Crohn's disease in the field, and had to return home in February or '06. I tried to train when I got back, but it was hopeless. I was sick from the time I got home to Sept '07 when I had a section of my intestines surgically removed, wiping out 2 XC seasons. I tried to compete again in '08, and then left BYU in '09. Then I came to WWU where I've competed 2 seasons. The NCAA committee is counting the seasons of '04, '08 and the 2 here at WWU as 4 seasons during which I was healthy and either could have or did compete. And so they won't grant me another, even though they acknowledge my disease was "incapacitating," in their words. The problem with this is that they shouldn't count my '04 season against me, because I was never on the BYU team. By NCAA rules, I had 4 full seasons of competition remaining in XC when I returned from my mission. They're saying I only had 3. By NCAA rules, you have 5 years to complete 4 seasons of competition. The committee is only giving me 4 years. But will they listen? | 