Spring sports cancelled amidst pandemic
Without spring athletics, Jesuit’s spring teams have not practiced or had games or meets at Cronin in weeks.
With spring sports and the remainder of the school year being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many athletes at Jesuit, including both out-of-season athletes and in-season athletes, have been significantly affected. The closure prevents these athletes from accessing the weight room, the track, batting cages, and various fields and courts that would have normally been used for training, practices, and games or meets.
The pandemic has challenged athletes to stay active, particularly for the Seniors that anticipate practicing and playing in the upcoming summer and fall for college sports.
COVID-19 moreover complicates the upcoming spring signing process on the national level because of the halt of the spring season.
For senior varsity track runner Jonathan Ulrich, although he might not be running in collegiate meets until next spring, he, like many other athletes, is still trying to practice and stay in shape.
“I was practicing at Beaverton High School for a while but then they locked their gates,” said Ulrich. “I’ve moved to Sunset, even gone as far out as [Lake Oswego] where I know a track is open just to get some reps in.”
Ultimately, there’s no official replacement for the loss of practices and games and many athletes are simply doing their best to keep a positive work ethic.
“[I’m] just keeping myself in shape and not letting my skills go away completely,” said senior varsity baseball player Kevin Blair. “I use a tee and a net in my garage to try to keep up on [them].”
Winter sports were partially impacted by the outbreak, too. While the Jesuit swim team and women’s basketball team did officially finish the season before COVID-19 affected school and sports, the Jesuit men’s basketball team playoff run was cancelled just hours before their first game was supposed to happen.
“We were all at Ernesto’s before the game when Coach Potter walked in with a somber look right before he said, ‘Unfortunately fellas, our chance at winning back-to-back championships is cancelled,’” said junior varsity basketball player James Lang.
There have been discussions circulating about spring sports being played in the summer when the virus is hopefully better contained, but for now there isn’t too much confidence in something like this viably happening.
“This scenario isn’t likely, as the OSAA had a meeting on April 1st saying that they are not on board with extending the spring season into the summer,” said Ulrich. “I would love to compete in the summer, but the OSAA isn’t likely to approve this.”
Michael Lang is going into his senior year at Jesuit High School. Born in Portland, Oregon, Michael has two older siblings at the University of Portland and a younger brother who also attends Jesuit as a Junior. In his free time, Michael loves to play CYO basketball with his friends in the winter and to also hang out with his friends whenever possible on the weekends. Aside from friends, he enjoys spending time with his family during family reunions or on vacations in the summer, this year including trips to Las Vegas and the beach at Manzanita. He also has fun golfing with his dad and brother, too. In addition, Michael will be a Jesuit Ambassador for the second year and loves to welcome prospective students to the school through shadow visits and Open Houses. He looks forward to college in the coming years. Currently, this is Michael’s first year as a journalist for Jesuit High School and he looks forward to getting to know many more members of the community through future writing and interviews with students and staff. He hopes to be able to effectively display the academic, athletic, and social excitements and struggles of the students of Jesuit through writing in the school newspaper.
