CRUEL AND UNUSUAL
It wasn’t supposed to end this way for local high school seniors who work tirelessly at their respective sports.
Central Columbia’s Zander Bradley will not get a chance to defend his gold medal performance in the 1,600-meter relay at the PIAA Track and Field Championships this year. Four others — Krystof Laposky, Andrew Rooney, Kolbi Krebs and Sage Harmon — also won’t be seeking to improve on their performances at the state meet that ended with them standing on the podium in five separate events last May.
On the diamond, Bloomsburg’s Madison Trivelpiece and the Panthers — who advanced to the state semifinals a year ago — won’t get to take swings in meaningful softball games.
But everyone understands that the precautionary measures that are being taken are in the best interest of their health and the public’s well-being in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
It doesn’t make the feeling of having the season ripped out from under them hurt any less.
On Thursday, after a long, painstaking few weeks, the PIAA, with the support of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, canceled all remaining winter championships and spring sports due to the pandemic. That means nearly 260 regional seniors have competed in their last high school spring sporting event in 2019.
‘Sad times’
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of local teams were optimistic about this season. A lot of that optimism has to do with the experience a lot of seniors brought with them. Six regional softball and baseball teams were staffing at least six seniors.
Some coaches, like Mount Carmel’s Brenton Eades, are now feeling the pinch and worried about the future.
“This is the most seniors I’ve had since I’ve been here, and it’s going to be that way for some time now,” Eades said. “All seven were great leaders and (the program) definitely takes a step back. They would have led the younger classes, and without them, it’s almost like having to teach the younger players how to ride a bike.”
Though every team certainly hates to see a year of play get taken away, some have a positive outlook.
“To think our seniors aren’t going to get the chance to play this year is heart-wrenching,” Central Columbia softball coach Duane Karchner said. “I don’t know what to say to them or how to ease the pain of not wearing the uniform for their last year.
“We have such a strong senior class, and we were hopeful to take this team to states and make some noise, but I know we have some great players coming in and we’ll be fine next year. But I still can’t stop thinking about these sad times for the seniors.”
Regional track and field teams are in the same boat, but the seniors comprise of much larger numbers — nine teams have double-digit seniors. Four squads — Central, Danville, Mount Carmel and Southern Columbia — were hit the hardest, sporting 10 or more seniors on both their boys and girls teams.
“We actually kind of joked about wondering whether we could have just one senior day with the large number of kids,” Mount Carmel girls track and field coach Ana Ditchey said. “But in reality, we have a lot of kids impacted. They didn’t just lose meets or medals — they lost time spent together as a team and a chance to make more memories.”
In boys tennis, all four regional teams are forced to move on from anywhere between four to seven seniors.
Individual concerns
A good portion will have the opportunity to continue their careers at the collegiate level. But for some, this spring marks the end of their scholar-athletic journeys.
Mount Carmel’s Krebs is one example. She has no plans to try out for Penn State’s track and field team, meaning she won’t get the opportunity to improve on her performance at the state invitational. Last year, she helped the Red Tornadoes place fifth in the 3,2000 relay.
“It’s upsetting,” she said. “We worked really hard during the offseason and even in the beginning (of the season). ... We’re trying to get back to states.”
Before the PIAA canceled the spring season, coaches worried about the general health of athletes if the season still went on.
Berwick baseball coach Brian Pinterich was quick to flaws that could come from such a decision.
“If they want us to play a condensed schedule, and taking weather into account, you have to consider pitchers’ arms,” he said. “With pitching regulations and a condensed schedule, you run into problems.”
Central boys track and field coach Doug Brown noted athletes would also need to get back into a routine.
“We had two weeks of preseason and now have to take five or six weeks off,” he said. “Nobody is built to take that much time off and compete at a high level.”
‘The right thing’
Coaches are disappointed they won’t have the chance to give their seniors the farewell season they worked diligently for. Many were irritated the PIAA took so long to make a decision.
“It kind of boggles my mind that they haven’t done anything,” Ditchey said last week. “It’s the unknown that is hurting us.”
“I truly think it’s crazy to entertain a season. I can’t believe the PIAA hasn’t canceled winter sports yet. I know they want to hold out hope, but I just don’t see it,” Pinterich said. “... I just feel bad for all the spring sport seniors.”
As the trying times left many feeling anxious, making the decision to pull the plug on all athletics was the right choice by the PIAA.
“We just have to understand these are unique times, and what’s happening with the social distancing is the right thing,” Karchner said. “If one of our players caught it and went over to their grandparents and gave it to them, we wouldn’t be able to live with ourselves.”
‘Perspective’
The positive that most coaches have taken from this is that it won’t be injuries forcing a sudden end to an athlete’s career or weather seemingly putting a team back and impacting their schedule. Instead, every team across the country is going through the same thing.
That leaves some thinking competition might be leveled in the foreseeable future.
“The performance will be down by the standard on paper, but we would probably be able to hang in there because it’s a disadvantage for everybody,” Brown said.
But no matter the case, there are no winners. In the end, all anybody can do is move on when the time is right and learn from it.
“I think this puts into perspective what (the athletes) had,” Ditchey said. “It gives them an idea of what they maybe took for granted. I just hope they take this lesson and learn to appreciate every little thing in their life.”
Link to story: https://www.pressenterpriseonline.com/daily/page/story/cruel-and-unusual
