Kansas State University Athletics
SE: K-State Tennis, Track & Field Work on Controlling the ‘Now’
Mar 23, 2020 | Tennis, Track & Field, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
The calls came in from a parking lot outside Chicago and as far away as Italy and Hungary.
Some sent texts and others sent videos, about everything from hurdles to service form.
It's true that COVID-19 robbed K-State student-athletes of their spring season this month, as measures adopted throughout the country brought Big 12 play to a screeching halt.
But take a look at the phones of Head Tennis Coach Jordan Smith and Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Cliff Rovelto and one thing is clear: sports don't stop.
"You've got a group of kids that are looking to represent their country at the World Juniors this summer, the Olympic Trials, the Olympic Games," Rovelto said. "That was the toughest part, as people tried to figure out, well what am I supposed to do if I can't train?"
The Wildcats have had less than two weeks to find an answer to that question, but across the globe, they haven't stopped trying. For two of K-State's most international teams, it's been a story about just how far coaches and student-athletes will go for their sport and for each other.
K-State Tennis was coming off a non-conference win over Nebraska when Big 12 play was suspended. Smith gave his players the option of taking the weekend off.
"I was quite amazed that they wanted to practice, they wanted to be out there," Smith said. "The next day, we went out there and had probably a little more fun than we would have during a normal pre-match practice. The fact that they all showed up, no one went away, even the seniors showed up…For those two hours, it almost didn't seem like anything mattered."
Across the country, Rovelto was with six Wildcats at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in New Mexico. Suddenly, their season came to an end.
"There was no announcement, it just happened," he said. "Because of social media, rumors and what was going on in other sports, I think a lot of [student-athletes] were beginning to realize there's a lot of uncertainty here. I think even for a lot of them, there wasn't real shock initially, but when the reality hit them, it was very tough."
The timing of the measures to combat COVID-19 were especially painful for Rovelto's team, arriving just days before the indoor season was set to culminate on their sport's biggest stage.
Six Wildcats made it to New Mexico, including senior Lauren Taubert, senior Ariel Okorie, senior Aaron Booth, junior Taishia Pryce, junior Tejaswin Shankar and freshman Edgaras Benkunskas.
"I think it's the most difficult championship to qualify for," Rovelto said. "In this sport, indoor track, you literally have thousands of people, in some events, tens of thousands of people that compete in that event. And yet, there are only 16 spots at the national meet. It's unbelievably hard to get to the national meet for indoor track."
For Smith and K-State Tennis, the loss of the season just days before Big 12 play brought a different set of emotions. After months of travel and neutral site competitions across the country, the Wildcats had just taken down SMU and Nebraska in back-to-back home matchups.
"We went through the gauntlet early on," Smith said. "The last message we had as a team in a competitive environment, I was like, you girls are winning these matches without playing your best. Just imagine when we get into Big 12 play and actually play our best, how great we're going to do."
Of course, those conference matchups were canceled, as K-State joined hundreds of schools across the country in ending the spring season to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Despite the loss of games, practices and team meetings, there's no quit in these Wildcats.
Before Riley County issued an order that banned all public gatherings of more than 10 people, Smith said he often received texts from players looking to improve their game around Manhattan.
"We talk about control what you can control," Smith said. "The ones that stayed kept going."
As measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 increased around the world, staying in Manhattan became more challenging for two teams that boast players from 18 different countries.
"A lot of the island kids from St. Lucia and Barbados, they've already left. We have a girl from Brazil that just got back. A lot of the Jamaicans, their families don't want them to come back, so they're kind of stuck in limbo," Rovelto said. "We've had people even scatter to other places where maybe it's a little easier for them to train, just so they can do something."
With international competition still on the horizon for plenty of the Wildcats on Rovelto's team, the 28-year veteran of K-State Track & Field is coaching like never before.
Rovelto said he is still writing up training programs for student-athletes he won't be able to coach in-person. Not to mention, those with no access to the track & field facility at K-State.
"I had a freshman from Illinois that was literally hurdling in a parking lot," Rovelto said. "You don't know what to tell them. You've got to do the best you can under these circumstances."
Almost half of Smith's team arrived at K-State from Italy and France, two of the countries with the highest number of COVID-19 cases. Some players are unable to travel home and be with family, bringing added importance to the bond shared between members of K-State Tennis.
"I commend them because they've been really staying together and helping each other out," Smith said. "With friends from the states, they can go and be around a pseudo-family. It's hard, they know it, but it's a challenge that a lot of people are facing right now."
As both Smith and Rovelto look ahead to the next few months, uncertainty about COVID-19 makes it difficult to project what the next step is for both of their teams.
International competitions still loom large for student-athletes on K-State Track & Field, and Rovelto said that many Wildcats share these Olympic or World Junior aspirations.
"It's hard for me to envision much before June," he said. "One thing I do know is that if you're not training between now and then, it's not going to make any difference at that point. So, you've got to figure that out and get done what you can get done."
The NCAA has discussed that student-athletes competing in the spring may have the opportunity to secure another year of college eligibility. While the conversation is ongoing, Rovelto is looking forward to bringing back some significant members of the team.
K-State Track & Field may still lose some important student-athletes next season. However, Rovelto said that watching talented seniors graduate is the definition of a strong program.
"Before all this happened, we felt like we would have a pretty good team returning," he said. "We had some kids that were redshirting this year that we will add next year that are really significant additions. It's been a good recruiting year. We've added a lot of kids that for sure are going to help us."
Though COVID-19 measures brought their season to a close at different times, both K-State Tennis and Track & Field have plenty to build on as they look ahead to 2020-21.
After a strong finish to a painfully short season, Smith had a simple message for his team.
"I hope that we can kind of see that you never know when things are going to end and that's why we try and appreciate things as much we can in the now." Smith said. "All you can do is control the now."
The calls came in from a parking lot outside Chicago and as far away as Italy and Hungary.
Some sent texts and others sent videos, about everything from hurdles to service form.
It's true that COVID-19 robbed K-State student-athletes of their spring season this month, as measures adopted throughout the country brought Big 12 play to a screeching halt.
But take a look at the phones of Head Tennis Coach Jordan Smith and Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Cliff Rovelto and one thing is clear: sports don't stop.
"You've got a group of kids that are looking to represent their country at the World Juniors this summer, the Olympic Trials, the Olympic Games," Rovelto said. "That was the toughest part, as people tried to figure out, well what am I supposed to do if I can't train?"
The Wildcats have had less than two weeks to find an answer to that question, but across the globe, they haven't stopped trying. For two of K-State's most international teams, it's been a story about just how far coaches and student-athletes will go for their sport and for each other.
K-State Tennis was coming off a non-conference win over Nebraska when Big 12 play was suspended. Smith gave his players the option of taking the weekend off.
"I was quite amazed that they wanted to practice, they wanted to be out there," Smith said. "The next day, we went out there and had probably a little more fun than we would have during a normal pre-match practice. The fact that they all showed up, no one went away, even the seniors showed up…For those two hours, it almost didn't seem like anything mattered."
Across the country, Rovelto was with six Wildcats at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in New Mexico. Suddenly, their season came to an end.
"There was no announcement, it just happened," he said. "Because of social media, rumors and what was going on in other sports, I think a lot of [student-athletes] were beginning to realize there's a lot of uncertainty here. I think even for a lot of them, there wasn't real shock initially, but when the reality hit them, it was very tough."
The timing of the measures to combat COVID-19 were especially painful for Rovelto's team, arriving just days before the indoor season was set to culminate on their sport's biggest stage.
Six Wildcats made it to New Mexico, including senior Lauren Taubert, senior Ariel Okorie, senior Aaron Booth, junior Taishia Pryce, junior Tejaswin Shankar and freshman Edgaras Benkunskas.
"I think it's the most difficult championship to qualify for," Rovelto said. "In this sport, indoor track, you literally have thousands of people, in some events, tens of thousands of people that compete in that event. And yet, there are only 16 spots at the national meet. It's unbelievably hard to get to the national meet for indoor track."
For Smith and K-State Tennis, the loss of the season just days before Big 12 play brought a different set of emotions. After months of travel and neutral site competitions across the country, the Wildcats had just taken down SMU and Nebraska in back-to-back home matchups.
"We went through the gauntlet early on," Smith said. "The last message we had as a team in a competitive environment, I was like, you girls are winning these matches without playing your best. Just imagine when we get into Big 12 play and actually play our best, how great we're going to do."
Of course, those conference matchups were canceled, as K-State joined hundreds of schools across the country in ending the spring season to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Despite the loss of games, practices and team meetings, there's no quit in these Wildcats.
Before Riley County issued an order that banned all public gatherings of more than 10 people, Smith said he often received texts from players looking to improve their game around Manhattan.
"We talk about control what you can control," Smith said. "The ones that stayed kept going."
As measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 increased around the world, staying in Manhattan became more challenging for two teams that boast players from 18 different countries.
"A lot of the island kids from St. Lucia and Barbados, they've already left. We have a girl from Brazil that just got back. A lot of the Jamaicans, their families don't want them to come back, so they're kind of stuck in limbo," Rovelto said. "We've had people even scatter to other places where maybe it's a little easier for them to train, just so they can do something."
With international competition still on the horizon for plenty of the Wildcats on Rovelto's team, the 28-year veteran of K-State Track & Field is coaching like never before.
Rovelto said he is still writing up training programs for student-athletes he won't be able to coach in-person. Not to mention, those with no access to the track & field facility at K-State.
"I had a freshman from Illinois that was literally hurdling in a parking lot," Rovelto said. "You don't know what to tell them. You've got to do the best you can under these circumstances."
Almost half of Smith's team arrived at K-State from Italy and France, two of the countries with the highest number of COVID-19 cases. Some players are unable to travel home and be with family, bringing added importance to the bond shared between members of K-State Tennis.
"I commend them because they've been really staying together and helping each other out," Smith said. "With friends from the states, they can go and be around a pseudo-family. It's hard, they know it, but it's a challenge that a lot of people are facing right now."
As both Smith and Rovelto look ahead to the next few months, uncertainty about COVID-19 makes it difficult to project what the next step is for both of their teams.
International competitions still loom large for student-athletes on K-State Track & Field, and Rovelto said that many Wildcats share these Olympic or World Junior aspirations.
"It's hard for me to envision much before June," he said. "One thing I do know is that if you're not training between now and then, it's not going to make any difference at that point. So, you've got to figure that out and get done what you can get done."
The NCAA has discussed that student-athletes competing in the spring may have the opportunity to secure another year of college eligibility. While the conversation is ongoing, Rovelto is looking forward to bringing back some significant members of the team.
K-State Track & Field may still lose some important student-athletes next season. However, Rovelto said that watching talented seniors graduate is the definition of a strong program.
"Before all this happened, we felt like we would have a pretty good team returning," he said. "We had some kids that were redshirting this year that we will add next year that are really significant additions. It's been a good recruiting year. We've added a lot of kids that for sure are going to help us."
Though COVID-19 measures brought their season to a close at different times, both K-State Tennis and Track & Field have plenty to build on as they look ahead to 2020-21.
After a strong finish to a painfully short season, Smith had a simple message for his team.
"I hope that we can kind of see that you never know when things are going to end and that's why we try and appreciate things as much we can in the now." Smith said. "All you can do is control the now."
Players Mentioned
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/ Track & Field
/ Track & Field
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