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Athletes stay at work despite their season's circumstances

GOLF

“I was angry at first when they cancelled our season. I promised Brewer I would take him to state Sophomore year and I didn’t. I was going to go in his honor the next two years, so them canceling my season made me grieve more. I realized that some people are seniors and they just won’t get another opportunity, so I feel sad for them. I have missed the company of my teammates. I have missed having people to play with on a daily basis. My coach calls me every now and then to check in but that’s it. I have not ceased to practice during this time. I practice everyday from 2-7:30 since online school provides more free time. I like getting the extra hours. Even though high school and summer golf has come to a halt, I still have to commit to a college so my practice cannot stop. I think that being fit is the difference between staying where I am or improving next to the next level. Sticking to the schedule of training everyday has really improved me as a person, especially since I’ve had this time to realize how messed up my priorities were, so I’ve worked towards reading my bible and talking to an accountability partner.”

-Graci Henard, 11

TRACK

“I think the worst part of the whole thing is the uncertainty of it all. Right now I’m just trying to stay positive about it. My goal at the beginning of the season was to win a state championship, and I see no reason to change that now. If I get the opportunity to run that’s still my goal. I also wanted to break the school records in all the distance events. I already have the record in the 1600 and 3200, I just needed to drop a second in the 800 to have all three. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are singles, tempo, progression, or steady states run of anywhere from 5-10 miles. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays are doubles. I have a track workout in the morning, and I try to alternate between short intervals (200-600) and long intervals (600-1600). In the afternoon I have an easy run, usually 4-6 miles, to increase my mileage. You often can set limits on yourself and having a coach there can push you to something greater than you thought was possible. I’ve really had to learn to be independent in my running and I’ve had to learn how to self motivate.”

-Owen Likins, 12

TENNIS

“I was really sad about this season being cut short because I’ve been in soccer for a majority of the spring season so I had been anticipating going back to tennis at the end of soccer. I had missed a lot of away tournaments but I was planning on at least going to district or regionals one last time with the team, but now I don’t even get to do that. I don’t just miss the sport, but I miss the team a lot. I love the girls and the guys are hilarious. I miss the environment of being with them everyday and a lot of the guys are seniors, so we won’t have that next year. I’ve tried to do lessons at Northridge when I could. I'll go on runs around my neighborhood to keep my endurance up, and doing stuff like that is really important because preparing for tryouts in the summer is really time consuming. The heat makes practicing even harder, so I need to stay fit enough while I can because by the time we’ll be able to go back to regular practices it will be the heat of the summer.”

-Janie Rounds, 11

Credits:

Peyton Sims, Bailey Groom and Caden Rainwater