It\nwas just a few months ago when I wondered if Fort Hays State University Tiger\nathletics would happen at all during the 2020-21 season. However, not only did\nour student-athletes take the field, they did so in a safe, winning fashion.\nAlthough the fall sports were delayed, all of our student-athletes have a\nchance to compete this semester. Competition, at least safe competition, would\nnot be possible without the guidance and the hard work of some key individuals\n\u2013 those who comprise the team behind the teams. This includes, among many\nothers, our team doctor, athletic trainers, coaches, facilities staff, and of\ncourse, the student-athletes themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since\nthe fall semester, our team administered more than 1,300 COVID-19 tests for\nathletes alone. Only 1.3 percent of these tests were positive. Thus far, during\nthe second semester, our test results have been below 1 percent positive. From\nFeb. 22 through the end of the semester, we project another 2,200 tests of\nathletes, coaches, trainers, and team managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spring\ntesting protocols include requiring members of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s\nbasketball, men\u2019s and women\u2019s indoor track and field, and wrestling teams to\ntest their entire rosters weekly. The \u201ctravel party\u201d that accompanies our teams\nis also tested the week of their scheduled departure. High-risk sports, such as\nfootball and volleyball, also test their entire rosters during the week of\ncompetition. Medium-risk sports, such as soccer, baseball, and softball, test\nentire rosters when traveling and utilize surveillance testing when not\ntraveling. Low-risk sports, such as track and field, golf, and tennis, test the\nentire roster prior to traveling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ntesting protocols, when warranted, are followed by contact tracing, isolation,\nand quarantine. Testing is supplemented with numerous cleaning protocols,\ntraining and practice protocols, and a lot of open and regular communication\nwith many partners. Our partners include FHSU student health, Ellis County\nHealth, the athletic and medical staff of our rival universities, and MIAA and\nNCAA personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leading\nour team behind the teams is the truly remarkable Dr. Wally Wallstrom (Doc\nWally), who works with the university through a cooperative agreement with Hays\nMedical Center. While we have always been grateful for the time and expertise\nof Doc Wally, his ongoing leadership and recommendations have clearly been the\ndriving force behind our successful winter and spring seasons. Clearly, Doc\nWally\u2019s oversight is the reason we have the privilege to gather in the name of\nTiger athletics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\ncan\u2019t say enough about Doc Wally\u2019s guidance throughout this process,\u201d said\nCurtis Hammeke, FHSU athletics director. \u201cWe have turned to him repeatedly\nsince last spring. He has consulted with Jason Kennedy, the Ellis County health\ndirector, and created protocols for us to follow from the weight room last\nsummer, throughout the fall, and into the competitive winter seasons. He has\nmade himself available on a regular basis to address issues in a timely fashion.\nWe have always appreciated all he does for our athletes as our team doctor, but\nI don\u2019t know how we would have navigated these challenges without him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hammeke\nalso noted that he is equally grateful for the tremendous effort the FHSU\nathletic training staff and Student Health have made to keep our athletes\ncompeting this spring. They have done everything from 5 a.m. daily health\nscreenings of our student-athletes to supporting our coaching staff in\nmaintaining appropriate protocols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile\nthe entire athletic training staff has gone well above and beyond their normal\nresponsibilities, associate athletic trainer Dustin Bradstreet has taken the\nlead on organizing and implementing the weekly testing,\u201d Hammeke said. \u201cDustin\nhas been unwavering in his commitment to the safety of our student-athletes and\ncoaching staff. He has willingly taken on a considerable amount of\nresponsibility with great professionalism and ethics. He is a great example of\nthose throughout the country who have stepped forward to address these\nchallenges head on.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\nare so many who deserve a spotlight in this article \u2013 too many to mention \u2013 but\nlet me add just a couple more statements of praise through the eyes of our\nstudent-athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\ndefinitely been good to get a full season in,\u201d said Jared Vitztum, the leading\nscorer and rebounder for the Tiger men\u2019s basketball team. \u201cI attribute the\nsuccess of our testing program to our training staff and the MIAA protocols.\nDustin Bradstreet, our trainer, has been a big part of the success,\u201d added\nVitztum, a graduate student from Hays. \u201cHe is the one making sure we are\nwearing masks on trips, really keeping us tidy with the rules to follow on and\noff the court, and obviously all the coaches do their part as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whitney\nRandall of the Tiger women\u2019s basketball squad agrees. \u201cOur athletic trainers\nhave been really great during the testing process,\u201d said Randall, a senior from\nAlva, Okla. \u201cI\u2019m grateful for Carlee Lindsey and Dustin Bradstreet, because\nthey are very knowledgeable and on top of things. As a team, we really\nappreciate all they do in being part of our success. The coaches and staff have\nalso done a great job of making us stay on top of things through the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed,\nthe team behind the teams works tirelessly to monitor and maintain the health\nand safety of our athletes, coaches, and staff. Responsible for our success\nstory this winter, that team is also keeping FHSU athletes in the game this\nspring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several\nTiger student-athletes participating in winter sports are still enjoying\nsuccess this month and will be in action this weekend. The women\u2019s basketball\nteam won the MIAA regular-season title and qualified for the NCAA Division II\nTournament as the No. 1 seed in the Central Region. Four FHSU student-athletes\nqualified for the NCAA D-II National Indoor Track and Field Meet. And senior A.J.\nCooper earned the No. 5 seed in the 285-pound bracket of the D-II National Wrestling\nChampionships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nwe work toward what I would call an \u201cadjusted normalcy,\u201d we continue to proudly\ncheer on all our student-athletes. Go Tigers! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was just a few months ago when I wondered if Fort Hays State University Tiger athletics would happen at all during the 2020-21 season.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59004"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59005,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59004\/revisions\/59005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}