Laker student athletes, coaches cope with loss of spring sports

Empty.

Empty courts, stadiums and fields create a feeling of emptiness for Laker coaches and student athletes.

Last week, NCAA leaders canceled all spring sports in response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Jerry Baltes, head coach for Laker men’s and women’s track and field, said he struggles with varied emotions as he and other coaches try to assist student athletes. He said it’s especially heartbreaking for seniors on his teams who practiced and competed throughout the winter for an outdoor season that was cut short.

“For our staff and underclass athletes, there will be another season to get to, so at least we have to look forward to,” Baltes said. “For our seniors this could be the end of their career for them.”

Wendy Wilson, associate athletics director and senior woman administrator, said coaches and administrators are working through an NCAA decision that grants an additional season of eligibility for qualified spring sport athletes.

Some track and field athletes were in Birmingham, Alabama, preparing for the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships when they heard the March 13 meet was canceled.

Sarah Beulla, a senior sprinter from Frankenmuth, said she and other sprinters were in a van leaving the track after practice, headed back to the hotel.

“We were seeing things on social media that March Madness was canceled,” Beulla said. “Then coach (Reynaldo Radlin) told us and we were crying.”

Beulla said the lack of closure made it difficult to end a season and her own eligibility as a fifth-year senior.

“There is so much effort we put into competition and it makes our team really strong. Not being able to say goodbye to all of them was tough,” she said.

Baltes said he has not mandated an off-season exercise routine for track athletes and is giving them time to process everything.

“We are leaving that up to them at the moment on what they want to get in and how much they do,” he said. “The top priority is their health and taking care of their transition to fully online learning.”

Wilson said of the 290 student athletes who participate in spring sports, 37 are seniors who would have exhausted their eligibility this semester.