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30 | March 26, 2020 | the frankfort station sports frankfortstationdaily.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 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.” Athlete of the Week 10 Questions with Mariam Azeez Mariam Azeez is a sophomore on the Lincoln-Way East track and field team. How long have you competed in track and field and how did you first get into it? I’ve been doing it since sixth grade. I’ve always just natrually been kind of a fast runner, and I was like I might as well try it. I don’t mean to boost myself, but I wasn’t bad at it, so I stuck with it. When you were growing up, did you just start to realize you were faster than the other kids? Yeah, I could kind of see that, but I never paid much attention to times or anything like that. Even now, I just run and then my coaches will come over and tell me I put up this time or that time or broke a record. Did you play any other sports growing up? I did cheerleading, but that was the only sport until I decided to try track. What is your favorite thing about the sport? My favorite part is the team. I love running, don’t get me wrong, but the thing that makes me love practices and the sport is the unconditional love I get from my teammates and the bonds we make. You’re still young, so do you feel like you have a lot of potential to keep improving? Definitely. That’s what’s exciting about it. I still have two years of high school, and then into college. I want to keep getting better. What is your favorite event? Long jump. I feel like it’s just more calming for me. It’s kind of my relaxing event. Don’t get me wrong, I have to try hard. But I feel like there’s not as much pressure on me as in the races. It’s just kind of a natural thing for me and it’s a lot of fun. Steve Millar/22nd Century Media If you could be anybody else for a day, who would you want to be? Simone Biles, for sure. She’s a legend. I look up to her and I aspire to be as great as she is. She’s crazy. What is your favorite TV show? 3 “Gossip Girl.” I like to pretend I’m going to be living their life one day, have a successful career and have unlimited shopping money. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? I’d go to Milan. Well, not right now! But I’ve always wanted to go there for the shopping and the fashion. If you could be any superhero, which would you want to be? Superwoman. She’s a boss of a woman and I think everyone should look up to her. Interview conducted by Sports Editor Steve Millar.
frankfortstationdaily.com sports the frankfort station | March 26, 2020 | 31 fastbreak Air Force brings home Frankfort woman, team stuck in Honduras 8 22nd century media file photo 1st-and-3 THREE FEATS FROM THE GIRLS INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD SEASON 1. Kate Guderjan Guderjan (above, No. 51), a LW East sophomore, broke school records in the 600 meters and the mile (5 minutes, 14.33 seconds). 2. Mariam Azeez The LW East sophomore broke the school record in the long jump (19 feet- 1.5 inches) at the LW East Invitational at Olivet Nazarene on Feb. 29. 3. Sam Spencer The Providence senior and defending state pole vault champion broke the state record in the event, vaulting 13 feet, 5.5 inches March 5 at the Joliet Central Steelmen Shuffle. STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor Frankfort native Shannon Cooley and the other 54 players and coaches on a women’s tackle football team that had been stranded in a Honduras hotel after the country closed its borders and began a lockdown were airlifted out of Honduras on Friday, March 20, and returned to the United States via two U.S. Air Force planes. “It was definitely a crazy couple days, but I’m really glad to be back,” Cooley said. Cooley, a Lincoln-Way East graduate and a junior at Arizona State, was part of the U.S. team competing in the American Women’s Bowl in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The team was set to fly home on Monday, March 16, but late night on Sunday, March 15, Honduras president Juan Orlando Hernandez ordered the country’s borders to be closed for at least seven days and put a curfew in effect because of the coronavirus pandemic. The team was staying at a Clarion Hotel and was not allowed to leave the hotel premises. “We have no idea how long we are going to be here,” Cooley said before the team was evacuated. “Our team is together in one place, so that helps a lot. We want to stick together as a team. “We’re just looking forward to getting out of here, being back home. Right now, everything is turned upside down and we’re looking forward to getting back to our families and dealing with the crisis back in the States.” Cooley and the rest of the team got their wish as the Air Force planes flew them into Charleston, S.C. Cooley made it back to Arizona the next day. “It was wild,” Cooley said. “We were in the jump seats. All our luggage was saran wrapped and put on pallets and loaded on. The plane was packed. Every seat was taken. It was crazy loud. It was an experience that I never thought would be on my bucket list, but now it’s checked off. “Just walking off the plane, it felt so good to be back in the U.S. It was crazy. It was unreal. It felt so good to be home and to be all together as a team. The coronavirus had not yet made much of an impact in Honduras when the team flew into the country Wednesday, March 11. The tournament went on as scheduled from Thursday, March 12, through Saturday, March 14, before the Honduras government issued an edict banning events of more than 50 people, causing the championship game between the U.S. and Mexico, scheduled for Sunday, March 15, to be canceled. “It wasn’t hectic at all when we got [to Honduras],” Cooley said. “Everything was fine. There were only three [coronavirus] cases in Honduras, so it actually seemed safer than the United States.” Cooley said the hotel was essentially void of guests other than the team. Most of the hotel staff was also gone, but a few employees were still around to help them out. “There are some people who live at the hotel and also work here, so they are still here,” Cooley said. “Other than them, there are no employees here. The hotel has been good with us, though, trying to figure out a solution. “The Mexico team and Costa Rica team have had to move multiple times because their hotels have closed. We’ve been lucky that this hotel has worked with us and let us stay.” Shannon’s mom, Kathi, was in regular contact with her daughter throughout the ordeal. “She’s tough,” Kathi said. “She’s going to act like, ‘Mom, I’m good.’ But I know she’s having a tough time. “They shouldn’t have to deal with this. They should be able to go home.” Cooley, who played basketball at East, decided to give football a shot and joined the Phoenix Phantomz of the Women’s Football Alliance. She is in her second year as a receiver with the team, and has also had the opportunity to play with the U.S. team – essentially an All-Star team – in multiple international tournaments. “It’s so crazy because I tell people two years ago, I didn’t even know how to put a helmet on and now I’m travelling all over the world playing football,” she said. “It’s been an amazing experience, except for something like this happening.” It’s a situation Cooley never imagined she would be in. “It seems like it was a movie,” she said. “It definitely doesn’t seem like it actually happened, but I know there were a lot of people who took some time out and there were a lot of strings pulled to get us out of there. I’m thankful for our organization, all the congressmen and local representatives who helped, and anyone that had a part Frankfort native Shannon Cooley was part of a U.S. women’s football team that was stranded in a Honduras hotel for nearly a week after Honduras closed its borders amid the coronavirus pandemic. PHOTO SUBMITTED in getting us out.” Cooley said she and her teammates will now share a lifetime bond. “Our team said we have to come up with a saying, so we came up with ‘There was always Honduras,’” she said. “When we go other places or play other teams, we’ll think back about this. “We come from all over the country, so a lot of us didn’t really know each other before this. But after this, we definitely know each other better than I ever imagined.” Listen Up “It’s so sad. 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.” Mariam Azeez - LW East sophomore track athlete, on spring sports being suspended what2watch Scheduling decisions Will spring sports resume as April begins, be further postponed, or will the season be canceled entirely? Index 30 - Athlete of the Week 29 - Team 22 Boys Basketball FASTBREAK is compiled by Sports Editor Steve Millar, s.millar@22ndcm.com.
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