St. Thomas More junior-to-be Caroline Kerr at her house in Champaign on Friday. The two-time News-Gazette All-Area First Team volleyball selection is preparing as if the Sabers will have a volleyball season this fall amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The summer volleyball player: ‘Whatever this season will look like, we’re going to be ready’
Caroline Kerr still has half of her high school volleyball career left.
And what she’s accomplished during her first two seasons at St. Thomas More is, well, rather impressive.
The 5-foot-11 setter earned News-Gazette All-Area First Team recognition based on her production during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. The 2020 season is fast approaching, with STM scheduled to open the season Aug. 25 at Georgetown-Ridge Farm.
But her junior season with the Sabers will undoubtedly feel unlike any volleyball season she’s ever had if it happens on time and as scheduled.
“All of us at STM want a season just as bad as anyone,” Kerr said. “We feel like we have another chance to do well, not only in conference, but also in the postseason this year. Whatever this season will look like, we’re going to be ready, and we are definitely looking forward to it.”
Kerr is already getting a small glimpse of what a potential season could look like this fall with the Sabers, going through workouts following IHSA guidelines. She also recently started having practices again with her Illini Elite club teammates in Bloomington, where she plays for the Illini Elite 16 Cardinal team along with other area players like Anna McClure (STM), Emma Bleecher (Unity) and Sophie Zerrouki (Mahomet-Seymour).
“With my club team, my coaches have been able to design drills so that we are more spread apart and aren’t as close,” Kerr said. “They’re also keeping each team to two ball carts per team so that your team will only be using those volleyballs. They have each court split up with bleachers and barriers to keep other teams from interacting. For STM, my coaches have done a great job keeping safety precautions in place for the team to ensure we are having a fun and healthy practice.”
Kerr is a vital reason why the Sabers — who won a Class 2A state title in 2017 — are still one of the area’s top volleyball programs. She compiled 885 assists during her freshman season that saw STM place third in 2A en route to a 37-5 record and followed that up with 826 assists during her sophomore season when the Sabers went 35-3 and won a 3A regional championship.
The success at the high school level happened after Kerr and her St. Matthew teammates in Champaign won a 2A state title as eighth-graders in March 2018.
And she wants to continue playing the sport at the college level, with Kerr indicating she’s receiving Division I interest from various schools so far.
Handling virtual recruiting is another aspect Kerr has juggled during the last four months.
“Since I was a little kid, I’ve always known playing college volleyball is something I’ve wanted to do,” she said. “The recruiting process through the pandemic has been unique, but through FaceTime and Zoom calls, I have been able to continue to learn more about each program and build relationships with coaches. I’m definitely excited for the future and what that is going to look like.”
Champaign Central graduate Cam Robinson is pitching this month with the LaCrosse Loggers, a Wisconsin baseball team that plays in the Northwoods League.
The summer baseball player: ‘We’re willing to do whatever guidelines are in place because we’re just happy that we’re out here’
Cam Robinson didn’t know exactly how his summer would go from a baseball perspective.
All the 2018 Champaign Central graduate knew, though, is he wanted to play the game he loved at a high level. If an opportunity presented itself.
Enter the Northwoods League. Robinson is getting the chance to work on his pitching craft with the LaCrosse Loggers, the Wisconsin team that started its coronavirus pandemic-abbreviated season on July 1 in one of the more established wooden-bat summer leagues in the country geared towards college players.
“I kept throwing during the quarantine when I was back home,” said Robinson, who returned to Champaign in mid-March shortly after his final season at John A. Logan College in Carterville was canceled. “So I wasn’t really nervous about getting back on the field because I kept working out.”
The 6-foot-6, 200-pound right-hander signed with Louisville last November to continue his college baseball career. His initial plan this summer, pre-pandemic, was to spend about a month in Kentucky, working out with his Louisville teammates before playing in the Northwoods League. Those plans, obviously, changed once the pandemic hit.
“I’ve kept in touch with the Louisville coaches,” Robinson said. “When all of the other leagues started to get canceled, they asked me if I still wanted to play. I was all for it, and that’s how I got set up in LaCrosse.”
Robinson arrived in Wisconsin roughly three weeks ago. He made his first pitching appearance with the Loggers on July 2 and made the most of it during a 6-4 victory at Rockford. Robinson picked up the win, throwing 3 1/3 innings of shutout relief, allowing only two hits and striking out two. Heading into his scheduled road start on Saturday night against the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders, Robinson sported a 1-0 record with a 2.70 earned run average in 6 2/3 innings pitched.
He won’t finish out the shortened season with the Loggers, who are playing a regional schedule against five other teams — the Northwoods League has 22 teams spread throughout six different states and Canada — to cut down on travel. By the time the Loggers’ season is set to end Aug. 20, Robinson said he plans to be in Louisville getting ready for the upcoming school year and working out with the Cardinals’ program. He’s slated to only pitch with the Loggers likely through July.
But he’s enjoying his time so far. While following health protocols the league has in place.
He had to undergo a COVID-19 test before he arrived in Wisconsin and then again once he arrived. Social distancing protocols are in place — for instance, Robinson and his teammates spread out up and down the foul line when the national anthem is played before each game — and keeping his hands clean during games by applying hand sanitizer on a regular basis. Handshakes and high-fives are discouraged among teammates, along with any chest bumps to celebrate a big play or hit.
“It’s a little weird, but we’re all kind of adjusting to it,” Robinson said. “We all expected there to be changes. We’re willing to do whatever guidelines are in place because we’re just happy that we’re out here.”
Another aspect of playing in an out-of-state league for Robinson is living with a host family and also staying overnight at hotels when road trips are required. Initially, Robinson was a little concerned about how that would work by going into a stranger’s house and living under the same roof amid a global health crisis. But it’s gone above and beyond what Robinson anticipated.
“My host family has been great, and they got tested for COVID before I arrived so that it doesn’t put anybody at risk,” Robinson said. “The Northwoods has done a really good job on staying on top of travel, too, and making sure we follow social distancing.”
Plus, Robinson has had the chance to pitch in front of fans. Socially distanced, of course. The Loggers had 873 fans in attendance at Copeland Park — whose capacity under normal circumstances is 3,200 — on July 4 when Robinson made his second appearance of the summer, logging 3 1/3 innings out of the bullpen.
“It’s a global pandemic, so it’s weird times for everybody, but it was kind of a calm, too, to play baseball again,” Robinson said. “You’re getting back to the normal of what you’re used to, so it’s definitely been nice to be able to get up here.”
Illinois men’s tennis player Zeke Clark, left, won a tournament in Grapevine, Texas, during the final weekend in June, his first competitive tennis since March.
The summer tennis player: ‘It was a lot of tennis, but I’ve been training hard, so I felt ready for it. It didn’t feel like too much.’
Zeke Clark has spent the last four months training in his hometown of Tulsa, Okla.
And training. And training some more.
“I’ve definitely been missing being in that competitive environment,” said Clark, a linchpin with the Illinois men’s tennis program the last four seasons. “I try to make practices as competitive as possible, but playing when something is on the line, I’ve been missing a lot. Since our last match against Purdue, I haven’t had that.”
Until the final weekend in June when the 21-year-old Clark played — and ultimately won — the Main Street Tennis Tournament in Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The two-day tournament took place June 27-28, with Clark playing two singles matches and two doubles matches each day. He won the singles portion of the tournament and also the doubles part of the tournament with Pierce Rollins, who just finished his freshman season playing at Texas A&M.
“One of my buddies mentioned this tournament near Dallas to me, and it ended up lining up perfect date-wise for me,” Clark said. “It was one of the first prize money tournaments that was close enough to me and within driving range to get to. It was a little bit of a no-brainer to play. It was a lot of tennis, but I’ve been training hard, so I felt ready for it. It didn’t feel like too much.”
Although his normal preparation for a tournament in a competitive setting took on a different feel because of the coronavirus pandemic. Clark said he took a COVID-19 test before leaving for Texas.
“I did get tested a couple days before I went out there just to make sure,” Clark said. “I had a couple other guys that have been training with me from my academy that went, so we got tested as well. We thought it was the smartest thing to do. I wanted to know where I stood.”
Clark said he felt some apprehension before he took the test.
“It took, in total, maybe 10 seconds,” Clark said. “It was very quick, and it was a little uncomfortable, but knowing that you’re not harming anybody else far outweighs how it feels. I hadn’t had any symptoms or nothing that was clear to me, but going to that tournament, I wanted to make sure I was clear.”
He was, with Clark’s test results coming back negative.
“There was a lot of relief after knowing that I was OK to go out there and compete again,” Clark said.
Clark said his practice sessions in Tulsa have had strict guidelines and protocols in place. Players make sure they are practicing with space in between the courts to avoid overcrowding. Only certain tennis balls are used for each particular group.
“They’re not trying to have a lot of contact where I’m training,” Clark said. “At the tournament near Dallas, I was a little surprised because I thought there was going to be some restrictions, but there actually wasn’t. Once we started playing, it was totally normal. It was kind of nice because it was something we hadn’t experienced in quite some time, but at the same time, kind of weird with everything going on.”
Back in mid-March, when the pandemic first hit, Clark thought his college tennis career at Illinois might be over. But the NCAA granted spring sport athletes an extra year of eligibility in late March, and Clark decided in April he would return to Illinois for one final season. He’s eager to get back to Champaign, a place he hasn’t seen the last four months, but understands it’ll be a different environment on campus when he does return.
“We all obviously miss being together, both my coaches and my teammates,” Clark said. “But making sure we’re safe and smart about things is our priority. All of us have figured out a way to train and progress forward being back home even with everything going on.”
"impact" - Google News
July 12, 2020 at 07:00PM
https://ift.tt/2W9crxy
Impact of coronavirus on local sports, part XVI - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette
"impact" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2RIFll8
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Impact of coronavirus on local sports, part XVI - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette"
Post a Comment