Due to the latest surge in covid cases both nationally and locally, many EHS athletes have had to be quarantined for either being exposed or testing positive, resulting in their teams having to compete without them. 

On Jan. 3 the varsity mid-states hockey team faced off against CBC without eight of their players. With only six people on the EHS bench, players felt more exhausted than usual and were not able to compete as strongly, resulting in a 9-1 loss. 

“Playing CBC without eight of our players was probably one of the hardest games I have played,” freshman Luke Thomilson said.  “Any time we went off for a break, we had to return back to the ice super quickly. I am not disappointed with the score of the game because I think we did the best we could have with what we had.” 

Girls basketball had to compete against East St. Louis on Jan. 4 without three varsity players, including starters Macy Silvey and Elle Evans. Despite this, Edwardsville won 49-36, with senior Sydney Harris contributing 28 and senior Emma Garner scoring 10 points. Freshman Blakely Hockett added six more. 

Garner said that the tempo of the game was different without Harris and Evans. 

“The pace was definitely different without Macy as point guard, and it was harder to score without the help from Elle,” she said. “But we all stepped up for the team to execute.”

Silvey was very happy to hear about the team’s success, saying that she “had faith that they would still be able to win even without multiple players.” 

In addition to having many athletes in quarantine, sports have been affected by the ban of spectators from all sporting events within district 7. Senior Hersch Greene says he hopes fans will be allowed to attend games “sooner than later.”

“I definitely like it more with fans at games; it feels weird without them,” Greene said. “They help keep the energy of the game up.” 

But as Omicron continues to surge, sports will continue to be affected. 

“I hope that this wave of covid is almost over,” Greene said. “Until then things won’t feel normal.”