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Photos by Andrew Salmi Watonga Republican The Watonga High School girls’ varsity cross country team huddles together on Oct. 3, 2019 prior to the Oklahoma Baptist University Pre-State Challenge held in Shawnee. With this week’s news that all Oklahoma school will be closed until at least April 6, Watonga Eagles’ and Lady Eagles’ athletics for the spring 2020 season have been suspended until further notice. -
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On Monday afternoon, the unfortunate announcement was made by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister that all Oklahoma schools will be closed and activities suspended until April 6 as the Oklahoma State Department of Education closely monitors the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) situation to prevent spreading.
“Nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of Oklahomans,” Hofmeister said on March 16 at an emergency meeting of the State Board of Education. “It is critical that we do everything in our power to protect the health of our kids, their families, educators, and all vulnerable populations. That need outweighs everything else. The OSDE has been working around the clock, and will continue to do so, to ease the burden of schools during this challenging time.”
This will have a major impact on Watonga Public Schools students as all activities are suspended until at least April 6, which also means that the 2020 spring sports seasons for Eagles’ athletics are completely up in the air right now.
With many athletic events for Eagles’ varsity sports being suspended, canceled or rescheduled last week, here is where things stand right now for Watonga High School varsity track and field, varsity baseball, varsity slow-pitch softball, and the continuation of Eagles’ boys’ varsity powerlifting at the state tournament.
EAGLES’ VARSITY TRACK AND FIELD
The Watonga girls’ and boys’ varsity track and field teams had their highly anticipated 2020 opening meet on Friday, March 13 at the Steve Hickman Invitational held at Cherokee High School canceled.
With the recent announcement made by the OSDE, that will also mean that the Eagles will not get to take part in the 58th annual Bethany High School Invitational on March 28 and the first Watonga High School track meet on April 3. It is unknown at this point whether these two meets will be rescheduled or canceled entirely.
The earliest the Eagles’ varsity track and field squad will be able to compete is on Friday, April 10 at the Okeene High School Whippet Relays, April 17 at the Chisholm High School Invitational, and April 24 for the second scheduled Watonga track meet.
EAGLES’ VARSITY BASEBALL
Eagles’ varsity baseball was able to play its last game on Friday, March 13 on the road against Mooreland High School and were defeated 18-2 via the third-inning mercy rule.
The loss dropped Watonga to 0-5 on the season and with the Eagles still in search of their first win of the 2020 season, the following tournaments and games are canceled: the Union City Festival baseball tournament on March 19-20, a road game at Ringwood High School on March 24, the annual Fairview High School Tournament on March 26-28, at Luther High School on March 30, home vs. Luther on March 31, at Crescent High School on April 2, and a home contest vs. Thomas High School on April 3.
The earliest Watonga varsity baseball can possibly return is on Monday, April 6 when the Eagles are scheduled to host Hinton High School. That week, they will also play a home game vs. Crescent on April 7 and an away contest against Hinton on April 9.
LADY EAGLES’ VARSITY SLOW-PITCH SOFTBALL
The Watonga High School varsity slow-pitch softball team was scheduled to have its season opener last week on Thursday, March 12 at home vs. Calumet High School before both schools decided to cancel the game.
With all Oklahoma school activities suspended until April 6, the earliest the Lady Eagles’ varsity slow-pitch softball squad will be able to make their 2020 regular-season debut is on April 6 at home in a doubleheader vs. Dover High School and Okeene High School.
Lady Eagles’ slow-pitch is also scheduled to travel on Thursday, April 9 for their first road game of the season to take on the Geary High School Lady Bison.
EAGLES’ VARSITY POWERLIFTING
The Watonga boys’ varsity powerlifting team recently had two boys qualify for state on Thursday, March 6 at the small school northwest powerlifting regional tournament held at Bridge Creek High School: Eagles’ senior Brandon Wiggins in the boys’ 168-pound class and junior Kerby Easter in the boys’ 242-pound class.
Unfortunately, the smallschool state tournament that was supposed to be on Saturday, March 14 was rescheduled to April 10.
More updates regarding Eagles’ and Lady Eagles’ varsity athletics’ will come in near future issues of the Watonga Republican.
Andrew Salmi can be reached at Sports@WatongaRepublican.com or by phone at (580) 623-4922.