Blow delt to student athletes

by Ben Wagy

The COVID-19 pandemic changed just about everyone’s day-to-day life. Whether it is not visiting a relative, not going to school, or not having a spring sports season; there have been changes. In our Valley, we are fortunate to have had our Wrestling State Tournament and the 1a/2a State Basketball Tournaments.

Many 3a/4a athletes were not able to finish their basketball seasons. Student athletes in Wyoming were not able to start their spring season and no one was able to finish. Most had one week of practice completed when they heard the news that schools were shutting down for the time being.

Here in the valley, the closures started with 3 weeks and kept being extended. The school year finished with online schooling, modified graduations and the cancellation of all spring sports.

While spring sports are limited in the Valley, with track as the only option, there is one athlete who found an alternative. Reid Schroeder, traveled to Rawlins last year to play Outlaw soccer. His junior year was the first year he played for the Rawlins Outlaws soccer team. He planned to continue to play through his senior year. His team did pretty well, but not as good as hoped. Schroeder anticipated another year to improve. Schroeder does not plan on continuing with sports in college as he attends the University of Wyoming.

The pandemic has not a affected Schroeder’s day to day life very much except the cancellation of the sports season and the school closures. When asked if the the closures surprised him, Schroeder said, “At the start, for sure. But, by the time April rolled around, I realized how fast this thing is able to spread.” Fortunately for our valley, the spread of COVID-19 has been limited, but the cancellation of sports was felt across the board.

The Saratoga/Encampment combined cross country team brought home another state championship last season. Many of the athletes had high expectations of themselves and others for this track season. They were disappointed by the cancellation of spring sports.

One of the athletes, Jarom Herring had always wanted to continue his running career in college. The Coronavirus pandemic has not slowed him down. Herring was asked why he had chosen to attend CWCC and if he had any other offers. He replied, “ I had some friends that had run for the coach at CWCC.” He followed by stating he had talked with the coach and they had “just clicked.” Herring committed to CWCC after the 2020 State Cross Country Championship in Afton, Wyoming.

Herring was surprised when the school and sports season were cancelled. He was also disappointed, like many students, that he couldn’t have his last season as a senior. Herring said that in the past he did not do as well as he hoped and was expecting this to be his year.

Graduation passed and the unusual school year came to an end. Restrictions are slowly lifting and things are opening up again. Unfortunately, there are still many unknowns surrounding school and sports for fall.