Stony Brook University fall sports athletes are adjusting to the new normal, as they prepare for their upcoming season due to its postponement in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the return date was originally slated for Nov. 10, this new move allows for the season to start when “at least three-quarters of Division I schools will have concluded their fall terms or moved remaining instructions and exams online.”
With the postponement of the fall season, Zoom meetings and new workout routines, these athletes are forging ahead despite the lack of a destination in sight.
The freshman class of student-athletes will be dealing with this rapid change while also acclimating to the usual nerves and challenges that come with entering a new environment at the university, and jumping to an entirely new level of competition.
“I think when you get to that level, all athletes are mentally prepared,” Koehler said. “Each one of those guys you see doing their thing is so routine-oriented and such hard workers that they are able to adjust on the fly.”
All 11 games on the Seawolves’ schedule were wiped on July 17, when the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) announced that it was suspending the fall football season, with the intent to play in spring 2021 instead.
The NCAA instituted a ban on in-person recruiting in March and has extended the ban on a monthly basis. Other subsequent rulings have left coaches and administrators trying to hit a moving target while they attempt to do their jobs.
Two days shy of his 30th birthday, the 2010 and 2011 America East Pitcher of the Year winner appeared in an MLB game for the first time in 13 months. Tropeano pitched four scoreless innings against the Chicago White Sox in his season debut.
Former Rutgers wide receiver Hunter Hayek announced his commitment to Stony Brook Football as a graduate transfer on Aug. 20. Hayek was ranked the 52nd-best overall recruit from New Jersey by 247Sports.
