{"id":806290,"date":"2020-04-10T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-11T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=381668"},"modified":"2020-04-10T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-11T01:00:00","slug":"senior-student-athletes-painfully-absorb-losing-their-final-days-as-summit-tigers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/senior-student-athletes-painfully-absorb-losing-their-final-days-as-summit-tigers\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior student-athletes painfully absorb losing their final days as Summit Tigers"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/CoronaHSSports-SDN-041120-4-1024x819.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/CoronaHSSports-SDN-041120-4-1024x819.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/CoronaHSSports-SDN-041120-4-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/CoronaHSSports-SDN-041120-4-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/CoronaHSSports-SDN-041120-4-1536x1229.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/CoronaHSSports-SDN-041120-4-2048x1638.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>Members of the Summit High School varsity girls soccer team likely won&#8217;t get a chance to play this season, a devastating development for Tiger seniors.<\/strong><br \/><em>Courtesy Nicole Kimball<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>DILLON \u2014 With her final high school sports season on indefinite hold due to the new coronavirus pandemic, Summit High School senior three-sport star Nicole Kimball has been sure to get in her thousand touches of a soccer ball a day. She\u2019s made time to play games like Heads Up in a friend group jokingly dubbed \u201cLeg Day\u201d via the Houseparty social network application. And she has a career as a rugby star at Sacred Heart University to look forward to.<\/p>\n<p>Weeks of Zoom video chats and group texts could not replace the kinds of senior-year experiences she\u2019d always thought she\u2019d get. So this past weekend, Kimball and her fellow Summit Tiger senior athletes Logan and MacKenna Simson and Breanna Roach planned a summit sunrise hike.<\/p>\n<p>The friend group drove separately and kept their distance from one another as they hiked in the dark. The friends were mostly quiet, each in their own thoughts. Kimball said they reflected on the brutal suddenness and uncertainty of the suspension of the spring sports season and of their final days together as Tigers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was hard to go back down after the sunrise, back to our houses and wait till the next time we are able to get out,\u201d Kimball said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row sd-donation sd-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/SDN-logo-white-1.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/SDN-logo-white-1.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/sdn-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/donate\/?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=donation&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=mid-article\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Though the Tigers players understand the importance of the season postponement, and potential cancellation, in order to combat the spread of COVID-19, it doesn\u2019t dull the pain of losing their final days with teammates \u2014 some of whom have known each other since they were toddlers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe seniors are devastated,\u201d Summit High boys lacrosse head coach Matty Marks said. \u201cThey had put in a lot of work to get to this senior season. Those guys are pretty down in the dumps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A month ago, when the Colorado High School Activities Association postponed all in-person practices, games and get-togethers, only one Summit High varsity team \u2014 track and field \u2014 had competed in an official event. Since then, teams have seen efforts to fight the virus escalate, including several extensions of of the ban on high-school athletic activities, which currently is set to end April 30.<\/p>\n<p>Several Summit High players and coaches said Friday that while they remain hopeful for a return to action, they\u2019ve begun to come to grips with the likelihood that they won\u2019t return to school, never mind play in games, this school year.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p402_hide\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/SHSHockey-SDN-010420-1024x683.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-376812\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/SHSHockey-SDN-010420-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/SHSHockey-SDN-010420-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/SHSHockey-SDN-010420-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/SHSHockey-SDN-010420-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/SHSHockey-SDN-010420-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>Summit High School senior Max Bonenberger plays against Glenwood Springs on Dec. 21.<\/strong><br \/><em>Liz Copan \/ <a href=\"mailto:ecopan@summitdaily.com\">ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>That grim-reaper-like reality hanging over their heads hasn\u2019t stopped Kimball from kicking the soccer ball around in her driveway. It hasn\u2019t stopped Tigers baseball senior Magnus Crone from digging out the snow in his Summit Cove backyard to play catch with his brother James. It hasn\u2019t stopped Tigers senior track and field captain Jeremiah Vaille from going for 7-mile runs or logging into the virtual social hangouts coach Kristy McClain has set up via Flipgrid to join dance parties with his teammates.<\/p>\n<p>Hope springs eternal, especially for accomplished Tigers seniors like Vaille and friend Max Bonenberger. They still repeat the \u201ctake it one day at a time\u201d athlete\u2019s mindset almost a month since they last laced up their running kicks together or buckled the chinstrap of a lacrosse helmet.<\/p>\n<p>But both Bonenberger and Vaille on Friday relented to the apparent reality. Their long runs or trail jaunts up a mountain are now more for their future as cross-country runners at Colorado School of Mines. Each says the guarantee of that future prospect is helping them get through this tough time.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p402_hide\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/SHSXC-SDN-082319-8-804x1024.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-370384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/SHSXC-SDN-082319-8-804x1024.jpg 804w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/SHSXC-SDN-082319-8-236x300.jpg 236w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/SHSXC-SDN-082319-8-768x978.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/SHSXC-SDN-082319-8.jpg 1490w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 804px) 100vw, 804px\"><figcaption><strong>Senior Jeremiah Vaille and other members of the Summit High School cross-country team warm up for practice after a meeting with their coaches Aug. 22 at Summit High School in Breckenridge.<\/strong><br \/><em>Liz Copan \/ <a href=\"mailto:ecopan@summitdaily.com\">ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Tigers coaches have channeled a try-to-make-the-best-of-it approach, as well. First-year girls lacrosse coach Samantha Lonsway has set up a virtual fundraiser for the team\u2019s Tiger Card. If people text \u201cBUY\u201d to 833-800-8228, they can purchase the $25 card for discounts at local restaurants and shops, and a player will drop it off on their doorstep. The proceeds will go to fund team sweatpants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomething for the seniors to remember their senior season,\u201d Lonsway said.<\/p>\n<p>Crone and fellow baseball senior Ethan Long said Tigers head coach Patrick Stehler has told them that there\u2019s chatter in the state\u2019s baseball community about hosting a summer tournament for seniors to play one last time in the case the season is canceled. Marks said the mountain lacrosse community is considering a similar concept, even if it means making a one-year exception where seniors can play in a Vail tournament that\u2019s not typically open to post-grads.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe it\u2019ll make up for the loss,\u201d Marks said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p402_hide\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/SHSRugby-SDN-111119-3-1024x683.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-374305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/SHSRugby-SDN-111119-3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/SHSRugby-SDN-111119-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/SHSRugby-SDN-111119-3-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>Nicole Kimball breaks away from Monarch\u2019s defense and runs the ball as the Summit Tigers compete in the state Rugby Championships at Garry Berry Stadium in Colorado Springs on Nov. 10, 2019.<\/strong><br \/><em>Liz Copan \/ <a href=\"mailto:ecopan@summitdaily.com\">ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/senior-student-athletes-painfully-absorb-losing-their-final-days-as-summit-tigers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Members of the Summit High School varsity girls soccer team likely won&#8217;t get a chance to play this season, a devastating development for Tiger seniors.Courtesy Nicole Kimball DILLON \u2014 With her final high school sports season on indefinite hold due to the new coronavirus pandemic, Summit High School senior three-sport star Nicole Kimball has been [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-806290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-14 08:49:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}