The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
College recruits trying to keep focus
This isn’t the end for Lauren Sheehan, Matt Pettegrew or Lauren Thomas. Even if this spring comes and goes without them stepping on a track, their track and field careers will continue in college.
That doesn’t mean that this season’s postponement has hurt any less.
Instead of training and competing with their teammates, they’re doing whatever they can to stay in shape. Sheehan, a senior at Brookside who does shot put and discus, works out in her garage and backyard. Pettegrew, a distance runner from Columbia, and Thomas, a hurdler from Westlake, have turned sidewalks and parks into their training ground.
The OHSAA indefinitely postponed all spring sports on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the three, Sheehan is the only one who has officially made her college decision, as she’ll be attending Youngstown State in the fall. She first got in contact with the Penguins’ track and field program last July when their throwing coach, Megan Tomei, got her information after watching her throw at a camp at Ashland.
Not long after that, Thomas went on an official visit and fell in love with everything YSU’s program offered her, a peace of mind that Pettegrew and Thomas are without.
Along with this being their final season, both Pettegrew and Thomas were looking forward to this year serving as their comeback season.
Thomas missed the entirety of last year after she tore her ACL at the start of soccer season the previous August. She initially was supposed to be healthy by
the start of the track and field season but had additional surgery on her knee right before the start of the season. She looked poised to bounce back strong, as she won the Division I 400 title during the state indoor track and field meet at SPIRE on March 7.
“I was really excited to come back,” she said. “I feel like I had definitely had a chance to win the state meet, especially coming off of my indoor season. I just feel like I’m a lot stronger than I was before.”
Pettegrew broke his foot a week before Columbia’s first track and field meet last season, an injury that kept him out for almost the entire season. He came back in the Raiders’ final meet, and then participated in the district meet after missing almost the entire season.
“He came back and he actually qualified out of districts with basically no training,” Columbia track and field coach Adam Bailey said. “That just tells you how good he is.”
In addition to impacting their final high school track and field season, the COV-19 pandemic is also impacting Thomas and Pettegrew’s college searches. While they’ve both visited some schools, they also had visits planned for later in the spring that have since been canceled.
Pettegrew had previously visited Mouth Union and Ashland, and had visits scheduled with Baldwin Wallace and Ohio Northern before the pandemic hit.
“The campuses have been shut down, so I can’t really visit anywhere. But some coaches have sent out virtual tours and stuff,” he said. “I was waiting until after basketball season to go on my final visits, but now who knows when that’ll happen.”
Thomas’ decision is down to two schools: Stanford and Akron. Thomas visited Akron in February and had made plans to visit Stanford later in the spring. Now she has to rely on a computer screen to get a feel for its campus.
“I’ve never been to Stanford and that makes the decision hard because I don’t know what the campus is like,” she said. “I’m just going to have to rely people I know who go there and the coach and some of the other athletes like tell me how it is there. I don’t think I’ll be able to experience it firsthand.”
This feeling of uncertainty isn’t limited to the athletes, as every track and field coach across the area has been scrambling to try to figure out a way to adjust to these changes. While they’re still trying to keep their athletes in shape, they’re also checking on their team to make sure that everything is as normal as it can be.
“Every day I try to call at least a couple of the kids and check in on them,” Bailey said. Not so much like, ‘Hey, are you doing the training?’ But more like, ‘Hey, how are you doing mentally? Are you guys OK? Is everyone OK in your house?’ And that seems to be helping the kids, they
seem to really like when I called them, you can kind of tell in their voice that they appreciate it.”
While Sheehan might have her college decision made, that doesn’t mean she’s anxious about the thought of a lost season. In addition to doing shot put and discus in college, she’s also thinking about doing the hammer throw and weighted throw, two events she planned to incorporate into her training as the season went on.
“We’ve just been texting back and forth (with the coaches) and doing the different workouts our coaches send us,” Sheehan said. “It’s really hard because being stuck in the house all day, it can be hard to get motivated to go outside and practice, but I also know that’s the best thing for me right now.”
Brookside girls track and field coach Eric Ruble agreed that, while it may be tough, the best thing for Sheehan is a normal practice schedule.
“This is a time where it’s
even more important to student athletes to practice,” Ruble said. “She has to carry on practice this season as if there is a whole season. Even if the season canceled, she needs to be out there throwing five to six days a week.”
A lost season would also mean forfeiting a final chance for any local seniors to go out on top. After being named All-Ohio in cross country, Pettegrew was looking to become one of the first Columbia athletes to be named AllOhio in two sports. Sheehan, who was named PAC athlete of the year, was looking for her first berth to state. And for Thomas, it was a final shot at redemption.
Two years ago, Thomas was on the cusp of advancing but false started in the finals and was disqualified. If this season isn’t held, that false start will be her final race in the 300 hurdles, as it becomes the 400 hurdles in college.
“I might never get that opportunity again,” she said.