Upper School Virtual Athletics
Along with the switch to remote learning midway through spring semester came an abrupt end to the spring sports season. But it wasn’t the end of workouts or practices. Upper School coaches and trainers kept students engaged and active in a variety of ways.
Strength and Conditioning Coach Dante Lewis (US’09) developed a virtual Panther Fitness Hour for the Principia community. Mondays through Fridays at 3:15 p.m., Lewis broadcast a workout for students and their families. Encouraging participation, Lewis noted, “With everything separating us as a community recently, this is a great opportunity for all of us to engage in some physical activity together!” The workouts were a huge hit, drawing as many as 100 participants.
In addition, coaches continued to encourage sport-specific training and celebrate student-athletes’ self-discipline in completing them without the benefit (and fun) of working out alongside their teammates. For example, Head Baseball Coach Pete Paciorek gave players daily, one-hour training plans with progressive skills improvement practices. The plans included a metaphysical idea as well, often chosen by a player. Paciorek also held live Zoom hitting sessions in order to provide feedback on swing mechanics.
The truncated season highlighted successes, too. Four Athlete-of-the-Week Awards were given to honor past performance and spring-season perseverance. These students were named Athlete of the Week: freshman Cole Christensen, junior Aria McMullin, and seniors Nick Ismirnioglou, and Gloria Ishimwe.
Despite their distance from one other, Upper School students and coaches demonstrated athleticism, adaptability, and unity all season long.