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By Sandy Kucharski with staff and courtesy photos SANDY@THEWOODSTOCKINDEPENDENT.COM

The past year of covering sports in Woodstock was like no other, changing in a heartbeat in March with the sudden stoppage of nearly every sport and school activity. But in the midst of lost seasons and missed opportunities, we saw determination and creativity emerge.

Some athletes found ways to adjust and continue to practice and participate in their chosen pursuits. But with the postponement of close-contact sports deemed high risk, such as football and soccer, many were left benched. When the Illinois High School Association changed to a fourseason model in August, some athletes took the opportunity to play in lowrisk sports.

We did our best to cover the sports that still took place. On the positive side, fewer sports during the season gave us the opportunity to shine a spotlight on some often overlooked sports.

We also took the opportunity to share stories of every senior athlete from each of the three high schools – Marian Central Catholic High School, Woodstock High School, and Woodstock North High School – that missed their final spring season.

While the headlines and stories were very different, we were never at a loss for interesting, active local people to feature in the sports pages of The Independent.

In January, winter sports were progressing along as usual, blissfully unaware of what changes were

to come. The Woodstock co-op boys Quinn Cynor sharing MVP honors. and girls bowling teams were moving Woodstock North’s athletic director, into postseason competition, the Mar- Brady Stromquist, announced his resian wrestling team was on its way to ignation, effective June 30. He would an undefeated regular season, and the be replaced by Bobby Mickey. Woodstock co-op swim team was rid- Marian’s Dylan Connell returned ing a strong wave. from the IHSA Class 2A Individual

Scoreboard was packed with results State Wrestling Tournament with his from wrestling, boys swimming, boys third state title, with several teamand girls bowling, boys and girls bas- mates earning medals. ketball, and even the Marian fencing WHS swimmer Quinn Cynor earned team. two sectional titles and medalled at

WHS Hall of the state meet in two events. Fame inductions took place Pandemic pause in early Febru- The March 18 issue of The Independent ary, the Hurricane shared the news of massive shutdowns wrestlers won the across the country and stay-at-home 2A Woodstock orders due to COVID-19. This included North Regional, canceling the spring sports season, and WHS girls basketball standout Emma Brand Bobby Micky and sports coverage in the newspaper changed dramatically. Everything came to a screeching scored her 1,000th halt. There were no scores to report, point. The WNHS girls basketball team no games to attend, no photos to celebrated winning the Kishwaukee take. Hopes of salvaging spring sports River Conference. The co-op swim faded, and a feeling of loss, especially team took third in the Fox Valley Con- for the seniors, set in. We devoted ference meet with Nick Phillips and more than a month to senior tributes for spring 2020 athletes.

In the absence of prep coverage, we adjusted our focus and began to run a series of individual sport features. Discovering that Woodstock was ripe with a diverse collection of devotees, we profiled a skier who guided the blind, a champion angler, a family of fly-fishermen, a family of hunters, an ultra-marathoner, and an inspirational story of a retiree’s fitness journey.

We found athletes who adjusted to the shutdown, such as a basement ballerina, a video jiu jitsu teacher, parking lot ice skaters, and a virtual marathoner. We even found a few sports that were relatively unaffected, including horse training and equine sports.

We also shared the story of a Woodstock woman who used to waterski with the Tommy Bartlett Show. Sadly, the long-running show at the Wisconsin Dells permanently closed because of the loss of income from the closures of 2020.

The stadiums sat empty in the fall, but boys and girls cross-country, boys and girls golf, girls swimming, and girls tennis were able to compete with strict limitations that included wearing masks, only competing against conference opponents, and having no spectators.

Highlights included a conference win by the WHS boys cross-country team and regional and sectional crosscountry titles for Marian’s Peter Walsdorf. That was the official end of the line, however, as IHSA did not host a state meet.

Renewed shutdowns put the start of the winter season on hold.

■ Dylan Connell – won an IHSA Class 2A Individual State Wrestling title for the third time. Also medaling: Elon Rodriguez, second; Bryce Shelton, Dan Valeria, Scottie Burke and Nick Lopez, fourth. ■ Quinn Cynor – two sectional titles; two-time state swim finals medalist, third, 200-yard freestyle, fifth, 100 backstroke ■ Peter Walsdorf, IHSA 2A Lake Villa Sectional champion; top 10 ShaZam Racing High School XC Championship

■ Northwood teacher, coach, and WHS graduate Jenn Koeser inducted into McHenry County College Athletics Hall of Fame ■ WHS Hall of Fame inductees: 2007 girls cross-country team; longtime supporter, coach, and announcer Jack Darby; 2009 standout Blue Streak quarterback Logan Kunzie ■ Blue Streak girls basketball player Emma Brand scores 1,000th point ■ Luke Trewyn, KRC golfer of the year

SCOREBOARD PRESENTED BY

■ Marian wrestling team, undefeated regular season, made it to state quarterfinal match ■ WNHS girls basketball, KRC champions ■ WNHS girls tennis team, KRC champions ■ WHS boys cross-country, KRC champions, sectional qualifier ■ Woodstock co-op golf team, KRC champions

■ Beth Zange, ski guide to the blind ■ Bob Clark, fishing champion ■ Madeline Manke, basement ballerina ■ Dan Hart, virtual jui jitsu instructor ■ Jeremy Rosheisen, horse trainer ■ Megan Hansen, virtual marathoner ■ Jason Randall, fly fisherman ■ Joel Brown, ultra-marathoner ■ Rainn and Reese Connor, skaters ■ Midwest Renegades, equestrians ■ Laura Bixby Blocksom, waterskier ■ Paul Rausch, fitness journey ■ Marty Baker family, hunters