In the midst of the chaotic Sonoma County fires, the school’s fall sports teams were forced to adapt to the frightening new circumstances. Cancelled games, rescheduled practices, and altered playoff schedules were only a few of the ramifications athletes were faced with.

Women’s Golf

Another sport that suffered the consequences of the fire was the girls golf team. The season was not postponed, not rescheduled, not suspended, but cancelled outright. The season had a whole two weeks left, not including playoffs. The fires canceled seasons for all schools in the NBL, SCL, and CMC leagues. Even section playoffs were canceled due to the devastation to the Redwood Empire. Many of the players wished they could have made more improvements during the last stretch of the season. They also realize that there are bigger issues regarding the fires. For most there will be a next season, so the girls golf team hopes to get back on course as soon as everything cools down.

Volleyball

Due to the recent fires that engulfed Santa Rosa, the volleyball team’s season has been drastically altered; Kaitlyn Wong, junior, explained how the season has been affected. Not only were games pushed up and condensed into three back to back, but now because of the varying damage to homes and schools, NCS is allowing any team to sign up for playoffs so long as they fill out an application, so many schools will be playing and are beyond happy with the league’s decision. Sadly, there were many less league games played, but luckily all of the girls get a chance at playoffs now.

Cheerleading

Cheerleading practices were cancelled only through the first week of the fires. No competitions were cancelled but now the team must work extra hard to catch up on lost time. Varsity cheerleader Elizabeth Webb says she only knew of one of her team mates who had to evacuate, and her house is still standing. According to Webb, the cheer coach briefly discussed the fires with the girls to make sure they were all okay. In addition, the coach advised the cheerleaders to volunteer and help out wherever needed. The team volunteered through the disastrous week and will now cheer to raise the spirits of our community in this trying time.

Football

The gray skies and smoky air didn’t do justice for the football team as they were approaching the end of their season, along with their most important games. Their season came to a close quickly because of the two games that got cancelled due to the quality of the air. However, this did not stop them from battling hard in practice, or challenging their final opponent and creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the seniors on the squad. While the boys were unable to get out and practice as a team, they were still able to come together  and volunteer at the many evacuation centers that were located throughout Petaluma. Volunteering brought the team closer to each other as they were faced with many challenges in order to help those in need. Fortunately, they were able to persevere and motivate each other on and off the field in order to create the best possible outcome for the team.

Women’s Tennis

The tennis team did not have practice during the week off of school. When school was back in session, the practice schedule was choppy because each day the school had to clear the team for practice due to air quality. This proved difficult for the team since they didn’t know if they would have practice the morning of. The all-clear from their coach didn’t come sometimes until last period. In addition, two game days were cancelled altogether, and the rest were pushed forward a week.  The NCS condensed both the NBL singles and doubles tournaments to single days of match play (which occurred on November first and second). Maria Carillo’s Sophia Nguyen won for singles. For doubles, Cardinal Newman’s Georgina Sierocinski and Gigi Swenson-Aguirre took first, Maria Carillo’s Teresa Liang and Mia Bittner took second, and Casa Grande’s Skyler Genelly and Samveda Ruk took third.

Cross Country

The fires that struck our county in the beginning of October ravaged through Santa Rosa and affected thousands of people, including the school’s cross country team. Coach Jamie Pugh lives in Santa Rosa and experienced in person the destructiveness of the fires. Luckily, he lost neither his home nor any loved ones. Fortunately, Spring Lake Park, a running location used by the team, wasn’t damaged enough to infringe on the planned League Finals that are set to take place there. Coach Pugh is optimistic, and remains confident that the team has plenty of time to get back on track (pun intended) so that they’ll be competitive in the upcoming league championships and state qualifying races.

Briefs by Jack Anthony, Lucia Garay, Andrew Gotshall, Ashley Hancock, Zach McGunagle, and Aalyna Silva.