The COVID-19 pandemic has been a turning point for all individuals across the world throughout this point in time. Sports have been adapting to new ways of life since the pandemic began in March of 2020, and now as of 2021 we have a new era for Colorado State University athletes to showcase their performances and inform us how they’ve adapted to sports in 2021. 

COVID-19 put a damper on the majority of athletes’ sports who had been either preparing for an upcoming season or got theirs cancelled all together from the pandemic. Coming from CSU’s Track & Field team, Christian Carnahan, a junior high jumper, says his experience was pretty tough overall. Carnahan had an injury to his knee toward the end of indoor season around January, so once outdoor season began and he was ready to perform he simply couldn’t due to COVID-19. 

“It made me frustrated that I wasn’t able to perform the way I wanted to before,” Carnahan says. “Then when I finally was able too, I just wasn’t able to showcase it.” 

“COVID-19 has definitely placed a damper on our competition, but it’s been a humbling experience and an experience that’s allowed us to grow in different ways to be adaptable and face any challenge head on.” — Breana Runnels, CSU senior volleyball player

The up-and-down decisions and constant unknowns with the COVID-19 pandemic during sports has created more suffering on student athletes who are having to keep their hopes up with the unknown certainty that their season and teams will be intact.

With new regulations regarding face-mask covering during workouts, limited people in weight training rooms and extensive cleaning, CSU has been able to move forward and help produce new regulations so their athletes can continue to train. 

“We’re super lucky that we got to train with just different regulations,”  Carnahan says. “I know a lot of schools in our conference got completely shut down or weren’t able to train at all.” 

Tameryn Coryell, redshirt sophomore and pole vaulter for CSU, shared how her athletic season was affected and own personal performance has been throughout the pandemic. 

“It’s difficult and taxing in a sense just because I feel like as an athlete and student, I have high expectations of myself and really obviously want the best but it’s really hard to get motivated,” Coryell says. 

Coryell exemplifies what so many students are feeling already, but in turn herself and many other student athletes on campus are challenged daily to push forward to perform at their highest levels both in the classrooms and on the field. 

“I’m also really grateful that I am an athlete and it has very well kept me going during this pandemic, and I am eternally grateful for my coaching staff and grateful I just have the opportunity to do this at all,” Coryell says. 

Breana Runnels talks about how her senior year volleyball season has been amidst the pandemic. 

“COVID-19 has definitely placed a damper on our competition, but it’s been a humbling experience and an experience that’s allowed us to grow in different ways to be adaptable and face any challenge head on,” Runnels says. 

Runnels attitude has helped showcase some of the positive outlooks that have been able to arise from CSU athletes. 

“Now is a great opportunity just to learn about yourself and self-reflect and really grow with other people who have the same experience,” Runnels says. 

NCAA sports across the board have had a threat since the pandemic began to cancel many teams and seasons, so their performance at this time has been put to the ultimate test regarding new regulations and new ways to perform to keep their season alive.