How COVID-19 left Butler County teams, athletes wondering what could have been 5 years later
“Business as usual.”
That is how Owen Blazer described his experience on the morning of March 12, 2020.
Then a senior swimmer for Seneca Valley, Blazer had just placed third in the PIAA Class 3A boys 100-yard backstroke preliminary heats, an effort which guaranteed him a spot in that night’s championship final at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
Thoughts of capping his high school career with a state title danced through his head. Little did he know he would never get that chance, and the whole world was about to change.
“We were in the school van, going to get lunch,” Blazer said. “I was looking on my phone and saw something, I think on Twitter. It said that the PIAA was canceling the rest of the (3A) meet. I read it out loud to the other guys, and everybody was completely silent.”
COVID-19 had been in the news leading up to that day, but for most people, it had not yet interrupted their lives. The cancellation of the 3A swim championships was just the beginning of the effect the pandemic would have on high school sports in Pennsylvania.
The Class 2A meet, which was originally scheduled to be held over the next two days, was postponed and to be held, possibly, at a later date. But on April 9, former Gov. Tom Wolf announced all schools across the state would be closed for the remainder of the academic year.
That was the last straw for the PIAA, which later that day canceled the remainder of the winter sports season, which also affected the state basketball playoffs. The spring season, which had included just a few days of practice for teams in March, was completely wiped out.
Bob Marcoux, still the boys lacrosse coach at Mars, wasn’t sure how to handle the situation.
“I remember our 2021 team, the first year we got to the state final and lost,” he said. “It was incredibly tough to have our season end like that. But with COVID the year before, that was by far the worst. The guys had worked so hard and to not even play a game, to have it end like it did, and we couldn’t even give them a hug.
“We set up Zoom calls about twice a week for the team, just trying to keep everyone’s spirits up. Yeah, it was nice to get guys on screen together like that, but honestly, I’m not sure how much good that did. At that point, all the kids had been moved to remote learning, and I think everyone was Zoom-called out.”
Left wondering “what if” were the boys and girls basketball teams at North Catholic and the boys team at Butler. All three were still alive in the state playoffs when the PIAA pulled the plug.
“At first, I thought 100% that we would resume playing,” North Catholic girls coach Molly Rottmann said. “Then, after a few weeks I heard that there was talk that the state tournament would pick up again in June, and I thought, ‘What?’
“I remember it so vividly. That team had one of the best senior classes we’ve ever had, and I thought we had a good chance to win it all.”
As for Blazer, his love of swimming helped him navigate a very trying and unexpected time.
“I had committed to Miami University (Ohio) my junior year,” he said. “Looking forward to going to college and swimming there, it made it all bearable for me. I had hope that there were more good times ahead.
“There wasn’t much anybody could do, so I began dry-land training like crazy. I knew it would benefit me once I got to Miami.”
Blazer went on to star for four years for the RedHawks and holds the program record in the 200-yard backstroke at 1:45.48. He won a combined five Mid-American Conference championships, two individually and three on relays.
According to the National Institutes of Health, COVID accounted for 697,000 deaths in the U.S. during the 20-month period from March 2020 to Oct. 2021.
“After a few weeks, I began to realize the enormity of it,” Rottmann said. “What it turned out to be, it’s mind-boggling.”
