High school sports across the nation have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. While this tough call has been done for the safety of athletes and their fans, it still hits hard as it affects an integral part of many student-athletes’ lives. The Catalyst spoke with two spring athletes on their experiences during this brief season: Isabelle Collins, senior track athlete, and McKenzie Reese, junior lacrosse athlete.

The Catalyst (TC): What sport do you play?

Isabelle Collins (IC):  I do track.

TC: How many seasons have you played this sport?

IC: This is my first and only season, which lasted two weeks.

TC: How was your season going before you heard about the school closure and cancellation of sports?

IC: I was just starting to fall in love with track. All of the work and effort I was putting in was finally showing results. They were very small results, but they still made me excited.

TC: How did you feel when you heard you could not play any more sports this year?

IC: I was really sad. Throughout my high school experience, I had always been involved in the same things, such as pom, and I finally had the chance to try something new.

TC: Where do you see the rest of this season going?

IC: Currently, Coach Currier sends us emails with updates as to what we should be doing in terms of workouts in order to keep in shape. I think he’s trying to think positively and manifest that we will be able to continue.

TC: What are your opinions on the pandemic?

IC: Personally, I take it very seriously. Even before it got bad, I was taking precautionary measures. It really upset me that people would come to school sick because they could have infected others, and the same thing is happening now on a larger scale. I hope that everyone takes this quarantine seriously, so health officials can get this under control, and we can come back to school, go to track practice and get our lives back in order 

The Catalyst (TC): What sport do you play?

McKenzie Rees (MR): Lacrosse.

TC: How many seasons have you played this sport?

MR: This is technically my third season. I played two seasons and then I played like a game or two last season.

TC: How was your season going before you heard about the school closure and cancellation of sports?

MR: This season was pretty good. I have a lot of faith in our team because we started conditioning a lot more than usual, which I think was helping us towards like our advantage because we already played three games. And so, I was excited to see where the season took us. So, it’s kind of like disappointing to hear about the coronavirus or about that we how to cancel lacrosse.

TC: What was your reaction when you heard you will not be able to play any more sports this year?

MR: I was really sad. And, like I said, disappointed. Well, not disappointed because I know we need to like everyone better, but it was definitely just like the hard work that we’ve already put into this… It was like really frustrating.

TC: Where do you see the rest of the season going?

MR: I did still have like a little faith that we were able to still play lacrosse because, when school did get canceled, we didn’t cancel lacrosse right away, and we still played a game. But now, since we’re going back so much later, I have a feeling that we won’t be able to play anymore.

TC: Are you doing anything to exercise or prepare for next season while being kept at home?

MR: I’ve been trying to do like at-home workouts with some cardio, but I’m gonna, well I also need to go outside, so I’m going to do some wall ball, which is basically just like a lacrosse drill you do outside with a wall and a ball, but I might go on some like runs to just stay in shape and stuff.

TC: What are your opinions on the pandemic?

MR: I really just hope everyone stays home and goes on lockdown and quarantine like we’re supposed to, so it goes by quicker… but it is still like just really sad, and I’m just really devastat[ed] that [the] lacrosse season is over and other things might be canceled, like prom and aquacades.