Is Quarantining Affecting IHS Sports?

By Addison Mosco

This year, quarantining has been a big issue. When you are exposed to COVID-19  you are not allowed to attend your sports practice. That has been affecting some of the sports teams and their games outcomes. 

 

Not being able to play and practice gets you out of shape for your sport meaning, your skill level decreases. When it comes time to participate in a game, your skill is not as good as it was before if you can’t attend any practices.. That affects your whole team’s performance and the outcome of the game. 

 

According to senior IHS Swimmer Loughlin Pagnucci, the swim team has not been greatly affected by quarantines. Though they had many quarantines, they did not affect the outcomes of their meets. Pagnucci states, “No-one is qurantintined right now, but a few weeks ago there was a case of COVID which required a few swimmers to be quarantined. We had no meets during that time, but many swimmers missed practices. I don’t think that it has affected the team. We have been having a successful season, which has continued. Hopefully we will not have any more cases before the end of the year with the Mark Hess Invitational and the WPIAL championship.”


When you play a sport that has everyone doing something at the same time, like dance, being quarantined can have a big impact on your performance. You have to be able to attend the practices to learn the routine and practice it. One dancer missing from the dance can mess up the whole thing. Junior Maycie Lorelli, a member of the IHS Dance Team, comments, “Thankfully no one on the dance team is quarantined right now. However, if the basketball team were to have a covid outbreak, it would affect us just as much because we dance at the games as well as come close to the basketball teams. If someone on the dance team were to get quarantined, this would interrupt formations and kicklines so we are staying as safe and covid friendly as possible!”

 

Photo by Emma Massengale - IHS DMP I Student

For some sports you need to have as many players as possible to be able to play efficiently, like basketball. You have a certain number of players on the court then some on the bench. When many students are quarantined from the basketball team, it can affect the whole outcome of games and practices. “Currently we do not have anyone quarantined however we have in the past. When we experienced some members of our team quarantining it was difficult to have a full practice since we were limited to a few players. We also had a game during that time period. We lost one of our starters and had very few players on the bench who were used to playing varsity. It is hard for it to not affect the team. With players who we typically rely on missing it puts different expectations on people that they are not used to.” Senior Girls Varsity Basketball player Hope Cook explains. 

 

 

In cheerleading, it is also a big deal to have people quarantined. When you have multiple people getting sick and having to quarantine it can affect the whole routine. Sophomore Cheerleader Dakota Sparks comments, “Many of my teammates have been quarantined, but I don’t think any are at the moment. However, two of my teammates are sick and probably have COVID. When there aren’t enough people we can’t go to the games. We also can’t do anything during practice. It affects the outcomes of our routine because during practice if we can’t stunt we will forget everything we have to and it becomes dangerous.”

 

 

 The overall consensus is that quarantines affect all sports in different ways, some affect the outcome more than others. It all depends on how the sport is played.

You May Also Like...

2025 Spring sports spring into season at IHS

By Ella Mosco and Cheyenne Rayba It is finally time at IHS to spring into the new sports season with Spring sports. The season has just begun and the teams have a great season ahead.  The Boys’ Lacrosse team currently holds a record of 5-4. The boys’ team has continued to push forward in their season, trying to obtain a good WPIAL playoff seeding. Junior Domonic Lonetti mentions, “We are about to hit a very tough stretch of games, but we feel confident as a group that if we continue to take it one game at a time and do the little things right, those wins will come.” To accomplish this, the team is putting all of their efforts into practice to tie up any loose ends they may have.  The Boys’ and Girls’ track team currently hold a record of 1-4. This year, the team seems to be at

Read More »

Hopeful in Hershey: IHS FBLA students travel for state leadership conference

By Emma Buterbaugh Many IHS students made the trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania, this year to compete at the Pennsylvania Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) State Leadership Conference (SLC). They competed for the chance to go to the National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Anaheim, California, in June. FBLA is a national organization that prepares students for careers in business. IHS’s FBLA chapter is the second largest club in the school, behind Key Club. Mr. Eric Brocious and Mr. Brian Schreyer, along with a group of officers, run the club. Students in the club often go above and beyond what is required or expected from them. Rocco Cosentino, a senior and the president of IHS’s FBLA chapter, expressed, “The students that made it to the state conference are often motivated and hard working. They go above and beyond to give effort by taking an objective test or making a presentation.” The

Read More »

IHS welcomes new attendance officer Ms. MarCha Ellis

By Gabi Isenberg IHS welcomed a new attendance officer this month, Ms. MarCha Ellis. Ms. Ellis will be the new friendly face students encounter when they walk into the attendance office.  Ms. Ellis, an IHS alumni, has joined the staff as the attendance officer, a change from her previous occupation as a direct care worker (DCW)/direct support professional (DSP), a profession in which she assisted people with disabilities. Ms. Ellis shares, “Working with people who are younger, going off into the real world afterward is kind of a career switch for me.” At IHS, Ms. Ellis’s daily duties consist of checking in students who come in late or get dismissed early. Additionally, she emails the coaches of student-athletes to inform them whether their athletes are in school for the day. She also commented, “The main purpose of this job is to keep track of kids’ attendance and find ways to

Read More »

IHS welcomes Mrs. Stephanie Armstrong as new administrative assistant

By Cheyenne Rayba IHS is welcoming Mrs. Stephenie Armstrong as the new administrative assistant in the main office. Armstrong joins the staff at the beginning of February and is excited to be part of our school community. Mrs. Armstrong grew up not far from Indiana, in Homer City. She graduated from Homer Center in 1996. After high school, Armstrong attended IUP where she graduated in the class of 2007, with a degree in art education. Prior to working here at IHS, Armstrong worked at REA Electric as a front office manager.  Outside of IHS, Armstrong spends most of her time with her two sons and husband. Currently, Armstrong is working to train the family dog to become a bird dog for her sons. She also enjoys skiing in her free time with her family. Previously, she also ran and owned a sugar cookie business.  Armstrong hopes to be able to

Read More »

IHS students raise cancer awareness with nonprofit Cancer Kids First

By Gabrielle Isenberg IHS students are dedicated to the cause of raising money for childhood cancer. Several students are members and organizers of the non-school-affiliated nonprofit Cancer Kids First, which aims to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer through fun activities. Cancer Kids First (CKF) is a nationwide, student-led nonprofit. Branches are formed and led by students to donate money to organized activities and donate money to pediatric cancer students. Indiana, PA’s branch is led by IHS students. Officers include seniors Matthew Blystone, Eve Kuzneski, Vania Ali, and Hannah Cowburn, as well as juniors Chloe Hain, Lelise Allison, Andrew Manzek, and Austin Schawl. CKF Indiana plans fun activities such as Spikeball and volleyball tournaments along with basket raffles to raise funds. Officer Chloe Hain shared, “We raise money and use that money to buy kids gifts off of an Amazon wishlist…[we] plan on doing more in the future to

Read More »

Ms. Davies leaves an everlasting impact on IHS

By Zoiee Cornelius A wonderful 20 years of teaching at IHS is coming to a close for beloved teacher Ms. Dawn Davies.  During her time at IHS, Ms. Davies was able to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher. Along with teaching, she also always ensured that her classroom was a safe space for everybody and was always willing to lend a helping hand. She says her favorite part throughout the years has been the students she has worked with. Ms. Davies was able to see her students’ full potential and how hard they worked. “It has been my pleasure to be their teacher, as well as honored to be able to teach them,” Ms. Davies said.  After retirement, Ms. Davies has big dreams and goals she’s ready to fulfill. She says, “I plan to travel out west to see the U.S.” Along with traveling she’s also looking forward to

Read More »