A look at how COVID-19 changed The Reporter/Montgomery Media/Times Herald sports world

March 12, 2020 >> Suddenly and without warning, the winter season was cut short.

The PIAA announced that it would suspend winter championships due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, for “minimally a two-week period.”

Meanwhile, the remainder of the PIAA 3A Swim Championships out at Bucknell University were cut short. The morning trials on Day Two would serve as timed finals.

The Class 2A Championships, scheduled for that coming weekend, were cancelled all together.

Basketball teams who had made a deep run into the postseason saw championship dreams go unfulfilled.

The local sports world struggled through unforeseen and unprecedented adversity.

April 10, 2020 >> The spring season was at first pushed back, and then the worst fears came to fruition.

The PIAA announced that it had canceled all remaining winter championships and spring sports seasons in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision came hours after Governor Tom Wolf announced that he was extending the closure of all schools throughout the Commonwealth for the remainder of the academic year.

PIAA executive director Robert Lombardi would say in a statement: “Today’s decision by the PIAA Board of Directors was difficult for everyone. Their thoughts remain on the thousands of student-athletes, coaches, officials and family members affected by this decision. However, the board’s position reflects a steadfast priority of keeping our student-athletes, officials and member schools’ staffs and their communities safe, while following the guidelines provided by the Governor, the Department of Health and the Department of Education.

“We had maintained hope for a continuation of our winter championships and an abbreviated spring season to help bring a sense of normalcy to our communities. As we navigate through this difficult time we need to remember the lessons that interscholastic athletics has taught us: cooperation, patience, sacrifice, responsibility, respect and perseverance. At present, 17 other state high school associations have ended their sports seasons in similar fashion.”

Just like that, the 2020 spring season was lost.

April 16, 2020 >> High School senior athletes looked ahead to college, but couldn’t help but reflect on the spring season that never was.

Said Central Bucks West star shot putter Kevin Guevara of the shutdown: “At first, it felt like a vacation, and now it feels unreal. I never would have thought something like this would happen. It feels like a dream sometimes but I’m starting to get used to it.

“You don’t realize you love something so much until it’s gone. I miss spring season so much because of the competitions and my teammates. I wish I could be throwing in competitions right now, especially since it’s my senior year and after this year I won’t be competing with all the guys anymore.”

Spring athletes did so much preparation for the season, but a season that would never be. Nevertheless, they kept preparing, hoping the season would not be dashed.

“My coaches did a very good job on giving us workouts to do,” Guevara said. “My throwing coach gave us workout plans for the time we will be out of competitions. With gyms being closed, I improvised workouts but have made it work.”

Despite the shutdown, the Bucks found a way to stay in touch.

“We have a big group chat where we talk on a daily basis, especially us seniors,” Guevara said. “We share memories and pictures of previous years.”

Teammate Roman Katona was one of the many athletes working hard at filling the void left by the cancellation.

“The last few weeks have been a bit boring, but I’m getting used to it by now,” he said. “It has been great to have lots of time with my family at home, keeping ourselves occupied with fun activities. “Running has been my main activity each day to keep me busy and outside of the house. Mostly I have just had lots of time to either catch up on projects, start new ones, or find new hobbies to try.”

May, 2020 >> It was an eerie feeling.

Baseball and softball fields were empty.

Area tracks were vacated.

Volleyball courts fell silent.

There were no sports going on, everyone left to stay at home and stay safe.

Pennridge volleyball pondered what could have been.

“We were preparing from very early in the school year, trying to make sure that we were all comfortable playing with each other,” Ram senior Patrick Mehlbaum said. “Knowing someone has your back if the ball goes over you or just out of your reach is incredibly important, and it’s what allows teams to run plays.

“We practiced new setups to play to our strengths and minimize our weaknesses,” he said, “and we kept a strong team mentality. Much of our goal setting was about taking responsibility and staying positive. On a personal level, I was trying to work on my fast hits due to my height.”

The shutdown prevented Pennridge from showing what it could do on a volleyball court that spring. But that didn’t diminish the team’s drive and chemistry.

“My teammates are people that I’ve known since before freshman year,” Mehlbaum said. “They are easily my best friends, so I was with them a lot in school, but I’ve missed playing with my team so much.”

June, 2020 >> Many track athletes trained hard all through the winter, competing on a state-caliber level indoors, and couldn’t wait to show their stuff outdoors.

Pennridge’s Meghan Kriney got a head start on the spring, and wound up being the team’s Most Valuable Player during winter season.

She was a member of the 4×800-meter and Distance Medley relays which earned All-State Honorable Mention and was set to earn her fourth varsity letter outdoors.

A captain for the Rams, she was intent on making it back to states in both the 400 and 800.

“Pennridge athletics have been a huge part of my four years in high school,” said Kriney, who helped the Rams’ DMR set a school record indoors. “I have grown to love to represent my high school through sports and have the support of the community behind me.

“Girls track has never been the most popular sport at Pennridge but I am glad that I have been able to give it a new meaning and show the community what we can accomplish on the track.”

The Rams had built up a heap of momentum heading outdoors.

“Coming into the spring season, I was really excited because we had just come out of a phenomenal winter,” Kriney said. “Our 4×800 relay had placed fourth at states and was expected to do well in the spring season as well as compete at New Balance Nationals. So one of my biggest goals was to see how far that relay could go and try to medal at outdoor states.

“I also was looking to get back into some of my individual events like the 400 to break my PR and get back to the state meet.”

Kriney now plays soccer at Florida Southern College.

July, 2020 >> Cancellations carried into the summer months.

There would be no Bux-Mont Legion season, no Bux-Mont swimming and Bux-Mont Connie Mack cancelled its state tournament.

Slowly but surely, however, area baseball began to return.

The Bux-Mont Baseball Classic featured local standouts and teams vying under the lights.

“It would have been nice,” a smiling Erik Ritchie said of the Souderton Area pitching staff, referring to the spring season that unfortunately was wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was a postseason-type atmosphere on a warm Friday night at Lansdale’s Memorial Park. Fire trucks rolled in and unfurled a giant American flag for the national anthem while fans of both squads packed the stands and spilled out along the first- and third-base lines as well as the outfield.

It was an atmosphere worthy of the two teams in play.

“(Knights coach) Kevin (Manero) took the bull by the horns and set up the whole thing for all of us, made it easy on all of us, and doing it for our guys too,” Indians coach Mike Childs said. “Our guys were appreciative to be able to get out here.

“You always have the North Penn-Souderton rivalry, so that’s always out there. You both wanna beat each other and that’s always a good thing too.”

August 6, 2020 >> There was a different feel to area baseball.

Crowds were smaller and spread out due to social distancing.

Masks were worn by the players and those in attendance.

But the competition itself was very much the same.

The Perkiomen Valley Twilight League was beginning to hit its stretch run.

Lansdale’s James Brown, who went 3-for-4 and sparked a win over rival Ambler, brought some big-time experience.

“Last year was a very interesting year,” the catcher said. “In 2018, I was playing overseas. I was in France, Austria, Czech Republic…I traveled around a little bit. And last summer, I was gonna do the same thing. I ended up going down for a workout in Florida. They didn’t have it.

“I had a friend that knew somebody in the Detroit Tigers organization. They had me come in, I caught some guys and they kept me around.”

Brown left an impression, and was soon the bullpen catcher for the AA Affiliate Erie SeaWolves.

“It was a blessing,” he said. “I learned a lot from the staff, from the players, from everybody. It was a blessing to be around. It was awesome.”

Of the chance of moving forward, Brown said: “I’m in contact with a lot of guys and we talk all the time. I know a gentleman in player development and hopefully our paths cross again. So we’ll see. We don’t know. Right now, I’m just glad I can play baseball here in a competitive league and have a lot of fun with the guys.”

Lansdale went on to reach the Perky League semis, falling to eventual runner-up Ambler. Valley Forge toppled defending champion Collegeville in the semis and then beat Ambler for the league title.

Aug. 28, 2020 >> In a vote of 30-2, the PIAA approved a two-week delay in the start date for fall sports practices and contests in order to “continue to seek a dialog with the administration, the legislature and all athletic stakeholders to obtain clarification on the possibility of safely conducting athletic activities in conjunction with the start of the school year.”

Under the new plan, heat acclimation week for football, as well as the start of workouts for all other fall sports programs, could begin on Aug. 24.

The opening date for contests was moved from Aug. 28 to Sept. 11.

“We have spoken with a member (of the governor’s staff) and we seem to be going back and forth,” acknowledged PIAA Executive Director Robert Lombardi. “The impetus of the request made is to ask the governor to reconsider.

“The next two weeks, we are going to do our darndest to meet with as many stakeholders as we can, including the (Pennsylvania) General Assembly, and hopefully the staff of the Department of Health, the Department of Education, and the Governor’s office to see if we can collaborate about supporting fall activities.”

September 25, 2020 >> Area football finally was able to open its season.

Some schools unfortunately did not compete due to the pandemic.

The season was cut in half, there were fewer playoff slots and few spectators were allowed.

But football was back.

Cross country runners were out on the course, field hockey players were swinging their sticks, soccer players were scoring goals again, water polo players were back in the water, and volleyball players were taking their swings.

Social-distancing guidelines were in effect and there were many new safety parameters at games and practices, but sports were back.

October 15, 2020 >> The fall season was in full swing. North Penn boys soccer topped rival Souderton Area in a tight one.

“We finished our chances,” the Knights’ Jovani Gonzalez said. “In the first game, we had two good chances in the first half and we didn’t finish them.

“We wanted to come back after losing to them 2-0 the first game and I felt like today we played a good game the whole way.”

Gonzalez’s header got the scoring started, and Josh Jones added a goal to give the Knights a 2-0 halftime lead. North Penn withstood Souderton’s second-half surge and held tight to a 2-1 victory that gave the Knights at least a share of the Suburban One League Colonial Division.

The Knights, State Champions in 2019, were on their way to another playoff season.

November 13, 2020 >> In a classic matchup, Souderton Area squared off against longtime rival Pennridge in the District 1-6A Football Final.

Big Red coach Ed Gallagher was going against one of his former players, Rams coach Cody Muller.

Souderton would put on a terrific performance to seize its first district title.

“Up front, we like to say ‘get everybody involved,’” Big Red senior lineman Ben Murawski said. “So we run each side about 50-50. It’s a blast having everybody on the o-line.

“We came a long way from COVID and we all pushed through it. We lost a couple guys this week due to quarantine but we all stuck through it and we played a great game, against a great football team.”

The postseason came in a hurry, but the competition and drama was as fierce as always.

December 16, 2020 >> The long-awaited return of high school basketball in Pennsylvania would have to wait a little longer.

New mitigation efforts from Governor Tom Wolf released in the wake of rising COVID-19 numbers across PA included a three-week shutdown of all K-12 athletics. For area high school programs, many just ramping up into preseason practice, it was another sudden halt as all activity was paused until at least Jan. 4.

“There’s nothing you can do about it. The league shut us down for two weeks. Now, the state has us down for three weeks but I get it,” Pennridge boys basketball coach Dean Behrens said. “The numbers are going up. If they were going down, I’d feel better about it. The biggest thing for us is we’re going to have to stay in shape.”

The Rams were one of the last teams in The Reporter/Times Herald/Montgomery area to play a game last season before all PIAA competition was halted on March 12. After his team’s loss to Roman Catholic in a PIAA-6A Second Round Game the night before, the veteran coach talked about a sense of closure and that his players at least got to play a final game.

That was unfortunately not the case for a handful of other area teams that were still alive in their respective state tournament brackets. Among them was the Plymouth Whitemarsh girls basketball team.

Knowing the Jan. 4 target date was not a surefire bet for an all-clear, the Colonials organized an in-team scrimmage last Friday in their final practice before shutting down.

PW, which would return all five starters and its top reserve players, broke its squad in half, donned its uniforms and had a competitive game before going their separate ways.

Normally, the week leading up and the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is an extremely active period for local teams. Archbishop Wood’s girls team usually competes in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona in late December, but that event has changed to a club tournament this year.

Many teams opt to host or participate in holiday tournaments, either locally or out-of-state like PW did last year going to Delaware while plenty of others take part in showcase events. Abington boys basketball is a frequent participant in Play-By-Play Classic events held over the holiday season, but would not have that chance in 2020.

January 4, 2021 >> Area teams returned to practice.

Basketball, wrestling, swimming and indoor track squads got back to work.

It would be a late start to a shortened season, but the winter season was back in action.

January 25, 2021 >> North Penn boys basketball would be one of the teams that started fast out of the gate.

The Knights credited their offseason work for their early-season success.

The players got into three groups of five —led by Billy Coley, Josh Jones and Joe Larkins — that would meet during the shutdown to work out.

“We did whatever we could — shoot around, work out any way we could – and that was a big piece,” Jones said, “because we spent about a month with each other when some other teams weren’t able to really meet. I think that kickstarted it for us.

“We would go to parks, we’d run hills, all kinds of stuff like that for a solid month. The groups were competing, we had to send in videos to get points with the coaches. The winners got gift cards of their choice, my group won, so we all got Chipotle gift cards.”

“I like to believe we put in more work than any other team during preseason even when we couldn’t get in the gym,” Coley said. “We worked on building chemistry early, I told the guys in my group we have to have good chemistry if we want to win basketball games.”

North Penn is in the midst of a postseason run, having defeated Strath Haven in the first round of districts.

February 16, 2021 >> The PIAA created a road map for the winter postseason.

All playoff dates and number of qualifiers were set for basketball, wrestling and swimming.

March 6, 2021 >> Area teams were in the thick of the winter postseason.

North Penn boys basketball began with a thriller, a 68-62 win over Strath Haven on the road.

Things had come full circle.

Only this time, it looked like this winter postseason would come to fruition.

March 8, 2021 >> And so it begins. The spring season is under way for the first day of practice with no limitations.