April 29, 2021 rustlernews.com
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PREPARING FOR THE FALL by Josiah Favela, intro student Even though spring sports are just roughly halfway through their seasons, there are some athletes at CMR who are already thinking about next fall.. Brady Kelly is currently a junior and preparing for his senior football season. He goes to the morning meetings, which are scheduled at 6:45 a.m. Many of the team members are working on sharpening their skills with drills. They are already preparing by lifting weights and getting to know the new defense plans coming up next season. All of the preparation is designed to keep the athletes on their toes. “For football, what motivates me is definitely just watching [our team] be successful,” Kelly said. “I really want to
Members of the varsity football team charge out on to the field at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 18 before the game against Billings West. Photo by Beth Britton.
53 Students’ Favorite CMR Sports
Q&A
with Sophie Madsen and Bryce Hall by Annabelle Morse, intro student
Q: What are you doing to prepare for
sophomore year and playing sports? A: Just working in the off season in both my sports. I’m in club sports for volleyball right now and then to go into open gyms for basketball.
Q: Do you have a favorite memory or mo-
ment that you had with your teammates? A: Probably the most memorable moment was last game this year in Bozeman when it was our very last game for the playoffs and we lost.
see our players and our coaches excel to the best of their ability, and I think that this season we definitely have a very good chance of doing that.” Kelly, a linebacker, is not only excited for the success of the program but also the continuation of the legacy of CMR football. “It’s not the beginning of the program. It’s going to be the continuation of the program,” he said. Kelly said that his teammates think of him as the life of the team, raising morale and maintaining a good attitude. “We have to also enjoy ourselves,” he said. “This is still high school, but we definitely do win and we need to have a good time doing it.”
COVID affecting high school sports by Keira Richards, intro student
Since the start of COVID-19, the United States -- along with countries all over the world -- has set restrictions to cause less spreading of the virus. C. M. Russell High School has also set restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID for a better learning environment for students. The new restrictions and regulations have made life difficult for high school sports. Athletes are now required to wear a mask at all times, stay six feet apart, avoid sharing belongings, and sanitize the areas they have been in. Furthermore, there is a possibility athletes may get contact traced. Things are now stricter, and if people ignore the restrictions, consequences will occur. Many athletes at CMR have felt that the regulations are quite difficult to manage or deal with. Some sports are left with no subs on the bench due to many of their players -- or the whole team -- being contact traced. Personally, I have played soccer with no subs on the bench. Throughout the game, I felt
Q: What are you looking forward to most for your next three years of high school? A: Definitely trying to play varsity in any of my sports and just the dances and the proms and like the mask mandate to be lifted after covid and kind of going back to normal. Q: What are you going to miss most about
high school? A: All the traditions this school has and all the friends that you make doing sports and just learning is probably what I’ll miss the most.
exhausted and overwhelmed. Plus, it did not help that my team and I were losing to our opposing team. Honestly, my team and I felt defeated and hopeless. Contact tracing is effective; however, perhaps the amount of time someone is in quarantine is excessive. Conceivably, if my teammates were not out for so long we could have had a better chance of winning. Not only is the contact tracing problematic, but the masks at times are bothersome. Masks are still required when on the bench, talking to a coach during practice, when a team is in a group and on the bus. Wearing masks can be a burden to deal with, especially when you’re sweaty and hot. The mask restrictions could have more leeway. Even though this year has not been ideal, I’m glad I was given the opportunity to play high school sports this year. If only the amount of time athletes are out during quarantine and how often we wear masks would change, I’d feel much more at ease.
Q: Who or what inspired you to play sports in high school?
A: My sister for sure just seeing how she’s
gone through it and how much she enjoyed it was an inspiration to me playing as well.
Q: What’s the most difficult thing about
sports in high school? A: Just the mentality tokeep trying your hardest everyday and trying to do better.
