Athletes adjust to new COVID-19 procedures
Bryce Harris, Robby Hajduk, Vincent Van Eck and the rest of the varsity boys cross country team line up at the starting line before they race at home against Oswego East on Aug. 29. Runners mask up until seconds before the starting gun goes off. Minooka won the meet, 24-34.
Sports look a little bit different this fall.
Cross country, golf, girls tennis, and girls swimming continue their fall 2020 seasons this school year with new restrictions and guidelines to keep everyone safe.
All of these sports have been trying their best to social distance, wear masks, and keep practices safe and sanitary.
Girls swimming started their season this year at the Morris Community Pool, which is outside, in order to social distance better but now moved into Morris High School. Due to the outdoor pool closing, they had to split up practices — JV on Tuesdays and Thursdays and varsity Monday through Friday.
“Our temperatures are taken before we even enter the building, we always are wearing a mask unless in the water, and we have to bring our own equipment,” senior Katie Graebner said. “We cannot borrow the school’s on a daily basis anymore.”
Another sport that has continued their season was girls tennis. The girls practice outside at the high school tennis courts in order to social distance and always wear their masks when not on the court.
“For matches we must wear masks off the court. Each team gets their own set of tennis balls so you cannot touch the other teams balls, and spectators need to be wearing masks at all times,” Mariah Duarte, senior, said.
Boys and girls cross country teams still get to run this year. The teams do not have to wear masks while running, but when they are not in motion they must wear a mask and stay six feet apart from their teammates.
Not all things are negative at a time like this.
“We are very lucky that we are still able to run and at least I get to share this weird time with my teammates,” Olivia Adams, senior, said.
Lastly, boys and girls golf are taking the same precautions as all the other teams.
“We must always wear a mask when not social distancing ourselves and that is definitely not ideal,” Kevin Phillips, senior, said.
MCHS has made many changes to these athletes’ normal seasons in order to keep everyone safe. Football, boys soccer, and girls volleyball have been moved to the spring, so these are the few lucky ones that still get to enjoy their seasons this fall.
