Photo courtesy of senior Mulenga Malama.
San Luis Obispo High School athletics are competing! In a year of uncertainty, SLOHS is beginning to see a sense of normalcy in regards to athletics.
Expressions dove into the competing sports at SLOHS and what is upcoming for the future of competition and practices.
“I’m excited to have a season again, even though I am nervous because it’s been so long since we’ve raced other teams. Our whole team was putting in the hours and the miles, so when you don’t race for almost a year, it’s really frustrating. Having a season definitely gives me a new sense of purpose for the sport because I feel like there’s a lot more to achieve now,” said senior cross country runner Grace Rubio.
Cross country is one of the sports that has returned to playing, and we’re so stoked for our runners that have been able to compete!
“Cross Country just had their first competition against Paso Robles and we won! Grace Rubio and Lewis Westwood won for the boys and girls with respective times of 15:41:01 and 13:05:59,” said SLOHS athletic director Marci Beddall.
With COVID-19 regulations, sports that are currently practicing in purple tier pods include Cross Country, Baseball, Softball, Girls Tennis, Girls Golf, Track and Field, and Boys and Girls Swim and Dive.
“I definitely did not think we were going to have a cross country season this year. It’s normally in the fall, so once we got into winter and still hadn’t started racing, it felt like it wasn’t going to happen,” said Rubio.
Athletes are doing a great job at maintaining COVID-19 guidelines with mask wearing and social distancing.
“At practice and meets, everyone needs to bring a mask and their own water. We really try to be on top of social distancing to set a good example and just show that we care about being safe. That means a lot of reminding each other to stay six feet apart and pulling our masks up when we’re closer or passing other people,” said Rubio.
In regards to other red tier sports that have either had pod practices postponed or have not yet begun competition, they are not out of the question.
“No red tier sports have been cancelled indefinitely. Baseball and softball are red tier Spring sports and we are hopeful that both of those sports will have competitive seasons”, said Beddall.
It is a confusing time for SLOHS athletes, but there is constantly new updated information coming in that is being processed to determine the future of our sports.
“The Governor and the California Department of Health just readvised some of the health regulations regarding athletics, moving soccer into the red tier and football and water polo into the red tier- but with mandatory testing. We are working with our local health department and district to process what this means for those sports”, said Beddall.
We hope to see all of our SLOHS athletes competing sometime soon. In the meantime, stay safe Tigers!
