Spring Athletics

03 SPRING ATHLETICS

CMR Tennis: Back on the court

by Anthony Matury, staff writer With the inevitable school closures that happened in March of 2020, along with spring sports, CMR tennis coach Byron

Boyd is more than excited for this season, especially with new freshmen players, returning players, and having AA Tennis hosted in Great Falls this year. “We had the making of a strong team last year.” With new MHSA (Montana High School Association) and

Cascade CCHD (City County Health Department) guidelines set in place, Boyd is expecting adjustments to be made for the season. Boyd predicts that the changes made by the MHSA will be similar to those of fall and winter sports. Despite tennis never having managers, Boyd is doubting that managers will be allowed this year to comply with social distancing rules. Even with the limitations, Byron says that this is going to be a great year for tennis. CMR Tennis coach Val Scheevel is anxious to have a season this year, even with restrictions set by the MHSA and CCHD. Scheevel said some challenges for this year, along with following new guidelines, are that students haven’t been discouraged from tennis from the school shutdown last year. “Because of Covid, kids haven’t been able to practice in the off season.” Scheevel, along with coach Boyd, was upset from the season getting cancelled last year because they both believed they had a strong team. Scheevel will be following and enforcing the sanitation and masking protocols set by the MHSA. “I’m hoping to give the kids as much of a normal season as we can.” Scheevel is expecting this season to be fun one, even for the students.

Coach Lowry and the softball team prepare for the new season

by Lucie Michel, staff writer Coach Alex Lowry has always carried softball in her heart. She played at CMR and then left Great Falls after she graduated in 2011. She started coaching four years ago, and came back to the home of the Mighty Rustlers to lead the team in 2020. Unfortunately, COVID prevented the season from happening last year. This season, Lowry acknowledges that the virus is not impacting training a lot right now, but they obviously still have to stay careful. After missing a season, everybody is even more motivated, and Lowry is excited to see all the new girls on the field. So far this year, the team has been training three times a week since January, focusing on hitting, pitching, catching, and fielding. “Our pre-season open gym has been awesome,” Lowry said. “We’ve had a ton of kids coming in, about 20 every time. They have been working really well and get a lot of work in.” Almost 30 girls are attending practice in total, and only 24, maybe 26, of them will be selected to be part of the team. The selection will be made at the beginning of the season during the tryouts on March 15. The choice might be tough to make as Lowry explains how good her relationship is with the girls. She is not trying to simply be a good coach but more to be a role model, because softball, and sport in general, are not only about becoming a good player but are also about becoming a good person and citizen.

CMR track and field faces uncertainty in the time of COVID-19

by Ava Donahue, staff writer The global pandemic has caused a wave of uncertainty to ripple across our country. Most events have been cancelled during the pandemic, including last year’s track and field season. Track and field head coach, Burke Allen is now looking forward to a full season this year. “We’re hoping for the best because we didn’t get a season last year. We’re definitely hopeful and excited to actually get a track season under our belt,” Allen said. Still, Allen does not know what the season will look like.

He is waiting for the Montana High School Association to give the track and field staff insight on what the meets will look like when the season begins. “The MHSA hasn’t given us any guidance yet,” he said. “I’m guessing that instead of having some of the big invitational track meets we will probably just have duals, but that’s purely speculation. I don’t know for sure.” With all of the confusion and uncertainty of this past year, coaches are just excited to give their athletes the opportunity to compete. “I think there were a lot of student athletes that were really upset that we only got a week in last year and then they shut it down,” Allen said. “We’re just excited to have an opportunity to develop those athletes and see what they can accomplish this year. We’re excited for the kids to actually be able to compete this year.”