MK_032620

30 | March 26, 2020 | the mokena messenger sports
mokenamessengerdaily.com
Athletes, coaches wait and hope for a spring season
6
STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor
Mariam Azeez misses
long jumps.
The Lincoln-Way East
sophomore track athlete
is able to stay in gear for
her running events easy
enough while school is out
and practices are on hold
amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But after breaking the
school record for the long
jump, going 19 feet-1.5
inches at the LW East Invitational
indoor meet on
Feb. 29 at Olivet Nazarene,
she is not able to
practice that event. There
are no pits for her to jump
into at home.
“I miss it,” she said. “It’s
my favorite event. Right
now, I’m just running outside,
going on the treadmill,
trying to stay active.”
Like all athletes in the
area, Azeez and her Griffins
teammates are in waitand-see
mode, hoping
their seasons can resume
in April or May.
“It’s so sad,” she said.
“Everyone on the track
team is devastated about it,
but we’re all still training.
We’re just hoping the outdoor
season will happen
at some point and that this
will be over with.”
Azeez’s coach, Brian
Evans, said this is unlike
anything he has ever experienced.
“It’s certainly a new
curveball,” he said. “This
is Year 21 for me and
we’ve never had a scenario
or event like this take
place. There’s no manual
or playbook we can go to,
so we’re just taking it one
day at a time.
“Obviously safety is a
Lincoln-Way East’s Mariam Azeez hopes to get back to
competing in the long jump soon. 22ND CENTURY MEDIA
FILE PHOTO
the number one priority.
We just want everybody
to sit down for a minute
and make sure they’re being
safe and we can get
through this as a society
before we even begin to
think about track and field
again.”
Lincoln-Way Central
softball coach Jeff Tarala
said it is tough for coaches
to be apart from their players
for so long.
“We took team pictures
on Saturday [March 14],
and it was kind of sad,”
Tarala said. “A lot of the
girls were like, ‘Hopefully
we’ll see you in a month.’
You get so connected with
them all. We spend an incredible
amount of time
with each other. We’re sad
to have to separate like
that.”
Players and coaches say
they are trying to remain
hopeful that there will be
competition at some point.
“I feel awful for the seniors,”
Tarala said. “I really
hope there is at least
something, whether it’s a
shortened season or just
a playoffs or tournament
format.”
Lincoln-Way West athletic
director Ted Robbins
said all the Lincoln-Way
district athletic directors
are in a “holding pattern.”
They have not yet canceled
games beyond the
start of April, except in
cases where the scheduled
opponent has mandated a
longer shutdown.
“We’ll adapt and move
when we get further information,”
he said. “That’s
where we’re at, I think like
everybody.
“Everybody’s been great
about it, though. They all
understand this is a bigger
situation than high school
athletics. It’s a worldwide
issue. The athletes, especially
the seniors, are disappointed,
of course, but
they have been fantastic in
dealing with this.”
Azeez said her teammates
have tried to get beyond
the initial shock and
sadness and take a positive
approach to the situation.
“We’re trying to stay optimistic,”
she said. “We’ve
been talking in group chats
and we were all really sad
about it at first, but then we
started trying to encourage
everyone to stay positive
and keep working.”
Youth Sports
Pride and heartbreak for Mokena Jr. High volleyball team
7
STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor
Mokena Junior High’s
seventh-grade girls volleyball
team made a memorable
run to a sectional championship
and qualified for
state for the first time since
2006.
The Meteors never got
their chance to play at
state, though, as the Illinois
Elementary School Association
canceled the tournament
amid the coronavirus
pandemic.
“We’re trying to stay
positive about the situation,
but it is disappointing,”
Mokena coach Crystal
Grimes said.
Mokena was set to play
Taylorville Junior High in a
Class 4A state quarterfinal
match Friday, March 16,
at Kingsley Junior High in
Normal.
The day before, however,
the IESA announced
the tournament would be
postponed. The organization
later announced the
cancellation.
“We knew there was a
possibility it would be canceled,
but we had a normal
practice, getting ready for
the game with Taylorville
the next day,” Grimes said.
“They hadn’t made it to
state in about 20 years, so
we knew it would be an underdog
vs. underdog-type
situation because the last
The Mokena Junior High seventh-grade girls volleyball
team huddles during a match. The team won a sectional
title and qualified for state before the tournament was
canceled. SHARNA WILKERSON/MOKENA JUNIOR HIGH
time we made it to state
was 2006.
“As soon we started
practice, we found out the
news.”
Still, there was some
hope the tournament might
be resumed at a later date.
“At first it was just postponed,”
Grimes said. “We
didn’t know if it would for
sure be canceled. We knew
that if it did get postponed,
we’d have a couple weeks
to practice. So, we wanted
to make this a fun practice
and not push the girls too
hard. They ended up having
fun and stayed positive.
“We reflected on our success
throughout the season.
I couldn’t be more proud of
this group.”
Mokena, which finished
15-4, beat Liberty Junior
High from New Lenox 25-
18, 11-25, 25-20 on March
9 in the sectional match.
The team included Bella
Bullington, Bella Dimitrijevic,
Ava Birmingham,
Morgan Kozlowski, Charlotte
Wilkerson, Aubrey
Birmingham, Flynn Meyer,
Ava Quinlan, Skyla Dolan,
Paige LeCompte, Taylor
Mowry, Gianna Kolenko,
Lily Vargas and Lindsey
Klitz.
Lauren Bullington was
the assistant coach.
“In the end, the girls
were disappointed, but they
stayed positive,” Grimes
said. “That is something
that set this team apart. If
we lost a game, they didn’t
get down on themselves
and came back strong for
the next one.”