NAMPA, Idaho – When Lexi Tubbs toes the starting line Friday in the 60-meter hurdles at the GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, she'll be doing so with a much clearer mind than the last time she competed in a conference championship event.

A year ago, during what should have been Tubbs' finest hour, she was struggling with the knowledge that her father, Mike, had been diagnosed with cancer.

The news affected her ability to play basketball as her sterling career ended with an upset loss in the GNAC tournament and a first-round exit from the national tournament.

"It was a struggle. I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping," she said. "Graduation was three months away and we were on our way to the national tournament. I don't want to say it was bad timing, but it wasn't a time I could let down. It was such a serious time."

Today, Tubbs is a graduate student, works for NNU full time as an admissions counselor and is competing on the track and field team.
 
This weekend she competes in the 60-meter hurdles at the Idaho Center. It's almost hard to believe she's competing once again, considering her dad's health and her emotions last spring.

Tubbs found out her dad was in the hospital the week of her final two home games in late February. Doctors didn't know what was wrong and he was being kept in ICU.

At halftime of a game against Alaska Anchorage, she found out he was being moved out of ICU. That good news helped spark Tubbs to 26 points that game Feb. 22, 2018, and 27 more Feb. 24, as the Nighthawks won their first GNAC title and first league title of any kind since 1999-00 in NAIA Division II.

But the euphoria was short lived.

She went to California to visit her dad and was in the room when oncology was first mentioned. It turned out her father had multiple myeloma and would begin an aggressive treatment schedule immediately.

Lexi rejoined her team in Alaska for the conference tournament, which ended with a semifinals loss to Montana State Billings. Seven days later, the Nighthawks suffered a national tournament loss to Alaska Anchorage.

"Being out on the court, I was there but everything else – physically and mentally – I was exhausted," she said. "I had some of my best games against the Alaska schools, but I don't think I was able to carry that mentality for much longer.

"I don't think there was much left for me to put out there at that point."

Tubbs scored seven points against Billings and eight against Anchorage at nationals.

Coaches, professors and players told her that she could skip the games and go to California if she wanted, but ultimately after talking to her dad she decided to play.

"To reach a pinnacle where they were, was for me, was bigger than what I was going through," Mike said. "I didn't want her to have regret. I really wish it wouldn't have affected her game, because I feel they could have won the championship, but I know my sickness affected her. Her mind was elsewhere."

That Tubbs was even with the team and competing impressed her coaches and teammates, who talked about her toughness.

"She is one of the strongest people I know," said Ellie Logan, who played alongside Tubbs for three seasons. "She handled it as good as she could have. You want to see someone succeed, especially at that point in the season. It was bittersweet."

With her dad doing much better and returning to a bit more of a normal routine, Tubbs is free to focus on her track and field career.

She ran for the Nighthawks her freshman, sophomore and junior years, winning a GNAC title in 2017 in the hurdles, and has her eyes set on grabbing another crown this weekend.

"All along I thought this year would be different because I'm training specifically for track, which is nothing I've ever done in my whole life," Tubbs said. "I'm hoping it will pay off. It's really nice that this is just something I can focus on. Everything is good at home and I'm really excited to go out there."

While her dad won't be able to be in Nampa to watch her, he will follow online and hopes to see her at an outdoor meet in Sacramento, Calif., later this spring.

It won't be the same as if he had been able to attend basketball senior night or the national tournament, but it's still a chance to watch her compete.

"I'm really excited he can see me in that competitive environment because that is where our relationship thrives," she said.