Former ISU track athlete sues NCAA over denial of eligibility

A former Iowa State University athlete is suing the National Collegiate Athletic Association over her inability to compete in indoor track during the 2026-27 school year.

Jenna James, a 23-year-old 2026 graduate of ISU, says a recent class-action lawsuit related to a change in NCAA rules should result in her ability to compete in the upcoming year, despite the NCAA’s denial of eligibility.

According to James’ lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, the NCAA, when calculating seasons of competition, treated indoor and outdoor track and field as entirely separate sports during her college years.

She alleges she completed indoor track events during four seasons, from 2022 through 2026. In June 2026, the NCAA adopted a new policy that allowed Division 1 athletes up to five years of eligibility and participation. That new policy, however, provided no additional year of eligibility for athletes who had just completed their fourth season in 2026, as James had.

A class action lawsuit initiated in Colorado then resulted in a preliminary ruling blocking the NCAA from enforcing that exclusion on athletes whose collegiate participation began in 2022-23 and who had completed their fourth season in the 2025-26 school year.

James’ lawsuit alleges that ISU then informed her that it didn’t believe the ruling would make her eligible to compete in indoor track during the upcoming school year since her participation in outdoor track events during the spring of 2022 meant her participation began in the 2021-22 school year.

In her lawsuit, James argues that for purposes of determining her current eligibility for indoor track, the NCAA should look at her first year of competing in indoor track, rather than outdoor track.

The current stance of the NCAA, James argues in her court filings, “uses her earlier participation in a different sport — outdoor track — to leave her excluded from a fifth season.

Noting that the 2027 NCAA Division 1 Indoor Track and Field Championships are scheduled for March 12-13, 2027, James’ lawsuit seeks eligibility through that period.

James, the lawsuit argues, is “a proven impact athlete within Division 1. She has individually qualified for the NCAA championship in the 400-meter hurdles, earned NCAA All-America honors, competed internationally, and scored at Big 12 conference championship meets. Her third-place relay finish at the 2026 indoor championships further demonstrates that she can contribute at the national level.”

Court records indicate that after graduating from ISU this year, James left Iowa and returned home to Canada because she is awaiting employment authorization to work in the United States now that she’s no longer a student.

James told the Iowa Capital Dispatch this week that should the court rule in her favor, she’d like to compete for ISU but understands that she may have to go elsewhere if there’s no room for her in the track program. Her concern, she said, is that at least a preliminary decision is needed within the next several weeks.

“Once we start getting into November and December, then it’s too late because if I want a scholarship to any other school, by then that money is already dedicated or committed for the next semester,” she said. “I’d love to come back to Iowa State, but at the same time, I’m not going to, you know, pressure them to hold a spot for me or hold back any money for me. I know that’s not realistic. But if I got a call from my coach to say, ‘I have some scholarship money for you, and I have a spot for you,’ well, then, yes, I would love to come back to ISU.”

The NCAA has yet to file a response to the lawsuit. ISU is not named as a defendant in the case.