On Tuesday April 14th, the Utah High School Athletics association announced that in response to Governor Gary Herberts announcement that schools will remained closed through the end of the year, that all spring sports and activities including state championships would be canceled.
None of us could have seen this coming as we started indoor season. The thought of missing out on an entire season seemed like an unrealistic idea but now that it is a reality, it has been hard for all us to cope with, especially for our seniors that have spent countless hours putting in the work to reach their goals before they graduate.
The important thing to know is that this doesn't have to be the end of track and field for all you fanatics out there. Once you graduate you can always run and compete in the USATF track meets that are held towards the end of a regular school year. I personally have competed in their meets since graduating and have loved being able to lace up my spikes again and race against other people who love the sports as much as I do.
It's still only the middle of April which means we would have been about half way through the season so far. I know that many of the athletes have continued to keep up their training through all of this (which isn't easy to do) and were looking to have run/throw/jump the best marks of their lives! You still can achieve these marks, it's not over. Just because you won't have our beloved officials there, and fans cheering you on, you can still train and come May or even June hold a personal time trial for yourself.
The important thing that I would plead with all of you to remember is WHAT drives you to do this sport. WHAT is it that makes you stay after school for an extra hour or two just to run or lift weights. WHY do you put so much effort into it and WHAT do you hope to get back from it. I challenge all of you to post on social media what your WHATs and/or WHYs are. Tag us whether it's on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and share a specific moment like a race, practice, team trip or something else that really got you into track & field.
We are still doing senior salutes and we will most likely do them through June so if you are a senior and haven't filled out the Q/A for it yet then click here! We have received a bunch and will be posting one daily as best we can so if you submitted yours through instagram or sent me an email, rest assured it has been received and they will be posted in order of who submitted first like always.