Athletics

Millions of teenagers across the country have seen seasons canceled and opportunities lessen in the blink of an eye. Athletes at Trinity were no exception as they have had to make major adjustments to their everyday lives since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. While Aycock Stadium was empty and the doors to the Estes Athletic Center were closed, Trinity athletes found ways to stay together, active and motivated. Yes, some opportunities were lost, but these students’ ability to find positives in the most adverse situations is one of the many things that makes the Trinity community so strong.

“At first, I was really disappointed because obviously I wanted to play lacrosse for my junior season, but I also wanted to be a part of the team,” said varsity football and lacrosse player Daniel Eliasek ’21. As reality started to kick in, Eliasek quickly realized that his time at Trinity had mentally prepared him for what was to come and that the quick transition to virtual learning enabled him to take his focus on self-discovery and personal development.

Around the Athletic Department, the approach was simply “control only what you can control.” When Trinity closed its doors and moved to all virtual learning, most anticipated that athletic competition would be in jeopardy. So Director of Athletics Anna Prillaman swiftly began to find ways for program heads to keep their teams engaged and motivated, even something as simple as a video to encourage students to go out and get active during weeks and weeks of lockdown. “It was important from the beginning to remain engaged with our student-athletes,” said Prillaman. “We took various action steps to ensure they knew how much they mean to us and that we, as coaches and athletic staff, were still here to support our athletes’ needs.”

Prillaman created videos with at home workout suggestions, held virtual team meetings, hosted a virtual signing day, created an endof-year athletics celebration video, and remained available to chat with Trinity student-athletes if they needed assistance in any way.

Games weren’t the only thing lost in the process. Junior baseball athlete Matthew McRaney ’21 was looking forward to the bonds and friendships that would be formed throughout a season. “Personally I missed my seniors the most. With this being my first

ONWARD TITANS!

year at Trinity, I made many new relationships and became really close with a lot of people, especially some of the seniors on the baseball team,” said McRaney. “I was very excited to play a season with these new guys because they all carried great energy on and off the field and I knew it would be an extremely fun season.

With the majority of Trinity’s students at home due to stay-at-home orders, many spring program heads used platforms such as Google Classroom, Zoom, and GroupMe to stay in constant contact with one another. Cate Monaco ’21, a field hockey and lacrosse player, mentioned that her head coach made sure her team had lots of fun activities to do during the spring months. “Coach Snead really organized a good transition into some normalcy,” said Monaco. “She communicated to players through email and a big GroupMe chat, sending uplifting messages and ways we can get some work done at home.”

Strength and Conditioning Coach Adam Banwarth knew that times would be tough, but if students could stay on a tailored workout routine then maybe it would provide hope, happiness, and normalcy. “The goal for our workouts when we began quarantine was to get kids active. My idea was to provide workouts that our students and faculty could perform while at home,” said Banwarth. As access to Trinity’s first-rate athletic equipment and facilities was lost due to campus being shut down, Banwarth had to quickly develop a plan for at-home workouts. “Those included lots of body weight circuit type training that occasionally included home equipment such as chairs, broom sticks, shovels, buckets, basketballs and even swing sets,” he said. “As a staff, we wanted to do our best to keep kids physically fit so that if and when we came back to school they wouldn’t be extremely deconditioned.”

Social media activities and challenges became very popular in the Trinity community while on stay-at-home orders. Adam Lonon, varsity girls head basketball coach, curated a “Pass Left Challenge” video on TikTok that featured every member of the varsity girls basketball team. “During the pandemic, we felt it necessary to offset the rigors of online learning, so we used basketball in a remote environment as an outlet to remain balanced, have fun, and continue team camaraderie,” said Lonon. “The ‘Pass Left Challenge’

Students and coaches find ways to stay together, active, and motivated

embodied [the sense] that, even apart, we could find a way to have fun, support one another, and represent the idea of ‘Team.’” Lonon emphasized that he wanted the girls to engage with one another in a unique way, and tying social media and sports did just that.

This unprecedented time also gave coaches a chance to refocus and commit to being lifelong learners in their sport. “You can never be comfortable with your knowledge base or the game will pass you by. But this time allowed me to look at things differently. I found new resources for coaching information and new ways to grow my own knowledge base in new different ways,” Margie Vaughan Snead ’85, girls lacrosse coach, said. “I put turf carpet down in my driveway and set up a mini field to keep my own daughters on track. I couldn’t expect my players to be growing their game at home if I wasn’t doing it myself.”

In midsummer, restrictions started to loosen and student-athletes as well as coaches were finally allowed back on campus. “When we started back with workouts in July … The excitement felt a lot like at the beginning of the school year,” said Banwarth. “All the kids who showed up seemed motivated and eager to get back to work. There was lots of chatter and banter among friends who may have not seen each other in some time.”

Empty campuses, stay-at-home orders, virtual learning, loss of competition were all a huge part of the spring for Titan students and coaches, but somehow the entire community found ways to flip the difficult time into a positive opportunity. “Whether there was competition or not, each program had a plan in place to ensure athletic growth. This was done via film sessions, team building, strength and conditioning workouts, social distanced skill sessions, leadership training and more,” Prillaman said. “Although the spring did not go the way any of us would have wanted, by simply rethinking how we go about doing things, we were able look back on that time with pride that our Titan community was able to remain there for one another.”

VIRTUAL SIGNING DAY

Four seniors recognized in football, baseball and soccer

In Trinity’s first-ever virtual signing-day ceremony, parents, family, faculty, coaches and students gathered virtually through videoconference — along with nearly 100 other students and guests — on the morning of Wednesday, April 15, 2020. Late April is a traditional time for seniors to sign their national letters of intent, and these four Trinity seniors joined student-athletes nationwide as they officially committed to competing in intercollegiate athletics next year: • Jackson Hanback ’20 (football) — Bridgewater College • Blake Loughran ’20 (baseball) — Shenandoah University • Abby Mayes ’20 (soccer) — Hood College • Lauren Park ’20 (soccer) — Wellesley College

“These are unique circumstances,” said Athletic Director Anna Prillaman, noting that she wanted each athlete to focus on the future in a positive light. “There’s a very good chance you have not had your crowning athletic achievement yet... I know things seem a little bit daunting now, but there are still a lot of positive things to come. As you guys look toward the future, be excited about it. You are ready. You have put in a lot of work... I am so excited for what the future holds for you.”

Coaches then shared words of praise, appreciation and anticipation of more great things to come for the group of Trinity student leaders and their extended families who have committed so much time toward the pursuit of excellence both on and off the playing field.

These seniors join 14 others that have committed this year to playing NCAA athletics. This includes both those who have participated in public signing ceremonies and those who have not. All will represent Trinity while competing at the intercollegiate level — with a commitment to hard work, discipline, character and respect for community.

For a complete list of current Trinity alumni college athletes, please visit trinityes.org/athletics

HEADLINE MAKERS

PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE

Sydney Whiting ’20 was named Richmond Times-Dispatch SportsBackers Scholar Athlete of the Month in February. A few months later, she was nominated for the Lexus of Richmond Leadership Award, recognizing outstanding athletic and academic achievement. An IB Diploma recipient and a captain of Trinity’s swimming program, Whiting became one of only 30 scholar athletes to receive a nomination. Headed to Notre Dame in the fall, Whiting finished her career at Trinity as an All American both in the water and in the classroom.“She is not only a fast swimmer but a great teammate… and an integral part of keeping the team together,” said Tim Johnson, Trinity swimming head coach. “So while she certainly holds all these accolades, times and records, Notre Dame is getting a really great person, and those are few and far between.”

FORE!

The Richmond Times-Dispatch published a long profile on Trinity’s Cole Pollard ’22 in late August, chronicling his growth as a golfer and explaining how transferring from Goochland High School — plus the cancellation of the spring 2020 season — meant that he will have not played competitive golf since the fall of 2018. In the spring of 2021, Pollard will get to finally compete on a Trinity team whose oldest players, he said, are juniors. “It’s just made me more excited because I have good relationships with some of my new teammates and through our practices, but it was just only practice,” Pollard said. “I haven’t been able to have those bus rides or trips to tournaments where we can spend more time together, have fun and compete at hopefully a high level and do well.”

EN GARDE!

In late February, NCB 12 Sports reporter Marc Davis profiled Justin Dabney ’21 and his fearless lunge into the world of competitive fencing. “Dabney is more than just a talented and skilled athlete,” said Davis “He’s also a straight-A student and hopes to be a plastic surgeon. He’ll continue to fence for the time being, perhaps in college as well, and knows that the skills he’s sharpening now on the strip will translate to the game of life.”

“It helps you overcome a situation that you know if you want to get this result you have to figure it out on your own. It’s not going to come any other way,” said Dabney. Dabney won his first tournament this past fall and has competed in a Junior Olympic qualifier.

FOUR-PEAT

On Saturday, February 22, the boys basketball team clinched the Prep League Championship for the 4th year in a row!