Reflection on 2020 Season, by Addison Barnhill

For track we have an indoor and outdoor season. Indoor season started back in January. It was really exciting to see how far we have come as a team and to see how over the years we have grown in our events. It looked to be a promising year for us both indoor and outdoor.

After indoor ended we were all looking forward to outdoor because things at the time were looking promising. We all had goals and we all wanted to go after them. A couple of us were training for a half marathon at the beginning of March. The expectations were high for this race but we knew we could handle it and we were ready. The week before the half we got an email saying that they were taking extra health measures but the race would still happen. That was fine, we were all in good spirits still. But, another email came the next day saying it was postponed due to the pandemic. The three of us, including our coach, were really bummed about it because this is what we had been training for since cross. It came to an end just like that.

After school decided to cancel in person classes and we were told about online classes, our coach said we were having a team meeting with everyone on March 16 at school. Toward the end of our cross meeting our coach received the email saying the NAIA canceled the spring seasons. There was a different feeling after that, but we still had to go to the track meeting to hear it again. This time we were addressed with the womens and mens teams together and all the coaches told us the season was canceled. The whole mood changed, like something was taken from us. We really didn't know what to think, it all happened so fast. One minute we were talking about the season with our coaches and the next it was gone. It was a really upsetting time for all of us especially for the seniors that this was going to be their last year. We talked and we all said that we would keep training and putting in the work even though we couldn't be together as a team. The team really came together as a family. We said that we would check in on each other from time to time. We all agreed to be held accountable for training and online classes when they start. Our plan for online class was to make sure we do the work, stay ahead, stay focused and don't fall behind.