Shutdown stuns seniors
Preston Price admits there was a lure to leaving Columbia Central as the only 100-goal scorer in the history of the boys soccer program.
“That, and winning. That was the ultimate goal,” said Price, a Lipscomb University signee who helped the Lions to consecutive Class AAA state sectional berths each of the last two years.
He and his senior teammates will have to be content with those accomplishments, along with his record-setting 87 career goals, following Wednesday’s announcement by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association that high school sports for the 2019-20 school year will not resume — bringing spring sports to an end and stopping Division I girls and boys basketball short of the conclusion of state tournaments — as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted Governor Bill Lee to encourage schools across the state to not reopen.
Students in Maury County Public Schools, Columbia Academy and Zion Christian Academy have not attended classes on campus for more than a month, placing athletic activities on hold as well. While the resumption of spring sports was considered unlikely, Wednesday’s final decision was no less a blow for high school athletes in general, and seniors in particular.
“I was a little upset, but I saw it coming,” said CA outfielder Bailee Luna, the only senior member of the Lady Bulldog softball team. “It’s extremely hard to think about it, knowing I’ll never get it back. I had hope we’d get to play again.
“I’m upset we won’t be able to defend our (Division I Class A) state championship. But I’m glad to have had a few weeks … with the teammates I have, I wouldn’t change anything. Coach (Seth) Anderson is a great guy. We had a great group.”
With four wins in as many games, Columbia Academy had gotten off to a flying start. So had Spring Hill baseball, as the Raiders opened with back-to-back victories over District 11-AAA rival Independence en route to a 3-1 opening.
“It’s tough right now,” Spring Hill outfielder Angel Montoya — one of four Raider seniors, along with Brett Bell, Dylan Wilder and Elijah Williams — said. “We’d worked really hard. We’ve just got to live through it and make the best of it.
“I wish we could have finished, with my boys and Coach (Paul) Lamm.”
While Luna doesn’t intend to play softball collegiately, Montoya — a Dyersburg State signee — and Price will continue to pursue their athletic careers.
“I’m 100 percent sure that makes it better, that I have something more to play for,” said Price, who had scored three goals in Central’s two victories. “But it upsets me for my senior teammates, that their last season was cut short.
“I’m sad that everyone is sad for me. I’m not a person that dwells on sad things. I try to find the positive. At first, I was pretty disappointed, but I’m pretty happy with how everything went at Central, going from being a losing team my first year to winning a lot of games after that. I’m just trying to use this time to get stronger, faster and better at soccer.”
Still, …
“Hitting ‘100’ was definitely on my mind. I did think I would have had a pretty good go at it.”