Cross country is back! On the 12th of August, Manogue’s XC team found a way around the smoke restrictions and held a practice at Evoke where a Manogue XC volunteer coach, Rob Spodobalski, runs a local gym with his wife. Rob didn’t want to see XC practices canceled so he gave the team free access to the gym on days that would usually be too smoky to practice in. The smoke has been persistent in canceling any outdoor activities so far, most notably postponing football games. Manogue’s teams are very grateful to have coaches who care about their practices.
High school sports in Reno are in trouble, in a smoke-filled city where practices are getting cancelled left and right. The Reno High cross country team doesn’t have a consistent schedule because of the smoke, which means they’re rapidly falling behind other schools. And it’s not just Reno High, but Galena, another well known school, also doesn’t have enough space indoors to practice. Football is also taking a hit, with games postponed and players’ morale decreasing. At Galena the football team hasn’t been allowed to play a game this season. Soccer is still playing games but much less than they would have normally, and the cross country team is not running as much as they should. Still, students are making the best of a bad situation. “We encourage [students] to take advantage of the current conditions and get ahead of the game” says Coach Heywood, Bishop Manogue’s XC/Track coach. Let’s hope for a better sports season this year moving forward.