Both students and staff have been faced the many hurdles presented with trying to balance the safety of the athletes along with trying to keep the sports competitive. In particular, the athletes are adapting to a new environment that brings certain challenges. 

Senior and cross-country athlete, Caleb Schopen, states that “It’s definitely different, but we’ve accepted the challenge as a team and we’re following to the best of our ability so we’ve adapted well as a unit,” Schopen also gives some examples of how life has changed cross-country. “Before COVID, we were able to do things like team huddles and give each other fist bumps, but now we have to find new ways to operate as a team.”

A teammate of Schopen, Carlos Montes, states how he feels the school is taking care of them during COVID-19, “With all of the new regulations at meets, the constant self-certification to make sure everyone is healthy, and the social distancing everywhere shows how serious the school is about our safety, but giving us the opportunity to run in the safest way possible.”

Montes still looks for the positive in all of this, stating that, “I think running throughout this whole uncertainty is something that’s given us something to hold onto as a semblance of what a normal senior year would look like, especially when we’re fully digital for school. It’s given us a little bit of normal when everything else isn’t, so for a lot of us it’s been good to have an outlet.”

Coronavirus and its effects have been seen everywhere in West Campus and it brings many challenges, but the many students here are a hardworking bunch. With enough tenacity and hard work, they’ve managed to find ways to overcome it.