Senior Yellow Jackets staying ready for swan song

“I have taken a break from fielding every day,” said Bryn Elliott, a catcher on the Mount Vernon softball team. “I’m more working on my tee work and my physical shape. I’ve been running and lifting to stay in shape because (I can’t go down) to the field every day. I have my tee set up and I go down and get some swings in.”

The softball team made it all the way to a Division I regional final before falling 3-2 in the final at-bat to Westerville Central. The Yellow Jackets have appeared in the district final round in all three of Elliott’s seasons.

“It’s definitely sad to think about not getting to finish my last year strong, especially with the last three years being so great,” Elliott said. “It’s just sad not being able to have a senior night. I think that’s hitting most of us pretty hard.”

Cory Berg, a senior on the track and field team was hoping to get another crack at the state meet where he finished second in the 300-meter hurdles and tied for 14th in the high jump. Berg is fresh off winning the state high jump at the indoor championship March 7.

“It makes working out a lot harder because you don’t have as much as guidance as you usually would have,” he said. “I’ve been going outside and doing as much work as I possibly can.”

The boys volleyball team fell to Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller in the state semifinal last season. In a sport that is so dependent on timing, it’s been difficult for senior Spencer Stanley and his teammates.

“We have a new group of guys coming in this year because we graduated a lot last year,” Stanley said. “I think we only have three or four returning varsity starters. So, we had a lot of new guys. We have a lot of work to do as far as getting (connected) and learning our lineups.”

Boys volleyball is not an OHSAA-sanctioned sport. The Ohio High School Boys Volleyball Association announced March 13 the suspension of the sport until April 5 with a link to a letter sent to member school administrations by the Jerry Snodgrass, executive director of the OHSAA.

Boys volleyball, being an indoor sport relies on school facilities. So, no school means no volleyball.

Regardless, Stanley is doing what he can to stay ready just in case.

“A lot of it is taken into your own hands,” Stanley said. “A lot of it just core work, abs, push-ups and sit-ups. I don’t have a gym at my house, so I haven’t really been able to (work out with weights). But I’ve been keeping up with cardio, going out for jogs. Keeping in shape has definitely been vital for me.”

It’s been a difficult spring in Mount Vernon, around the state, country and world and people are dealing with in a myriad of ways.

Berg is staying the course.

“I’ve just not been thinking about that,” he said. “I’m just taking it one day at a time and hoping for the best, but at the same time preparing for the future. I think the best thing for any of us to just act like we’re going to come back and everything is going to be normal.”

Elliott can’t help but miss her teammates.

“I’ve been looking forward to my graduation and senior prom and graduation party and all of that stuff,” Elliott said. “It could be gone. It’s not necessarily that it’s not happening, it’s just the thought that we don’t know. We just don’t what’s happening. It’s just hard not being able to see my best friends every day. My team’s a huge part of my everyday life.”

Stanley chooses to find the silver lining.

“This is our senior and we’re not able to finish it out,” he said. “It’s kind of frustrating. But in a way it’s a blessing because we get to spend more time with our families.”