Through the summer going into freshmen year, Thomas Gogel played in countless tournaments and practiced 30 or more hours a week. He had his mind set on playing for the East team — the blisters on his hands and aches in his back were worth it to reach the top side of his teammates’ rankings.

He channeled his nine years of experience into tryouts, and was ranked second on the team, behind senior Will Harding.

“That first week was a lot of fun,” Gogel said. “I got to meet a lot of the seniors who have been there and played and I got a lot of advice from them. They were so welcoming and very, very kind, just showing me and giving me helpful tips.”

East was going for a three-peat at state. Gogel’s main goal for this year was to make the first team all-state — until he got a text in the golf GroupMe that the entire season was called off.

“I was actually playing golf when I got that text and my mind was just so off because I was thinking ‘I’ve worked so hard for this freshmen year and I don’t even get to play — that’s not fair,’” Gogel said. “I ended up playing badly those last two holes because I was so sad about not being able to play.”

Gogel thinks his freshman year would’ve helped him improve because he could watch the upperclassman and try to follow in their footsteps as they graduate.

“I never got to see what they did or how they did it, so now next year’s gonna be hard the first couple of weeks because I’ll be a sophomore who’s never played in a high school tournament,” Gogel said.

Soccer

Finally. They all pulled their multicolored socks over their shin guards and laced up their cleats as they made their way to the lower field. The years of playing club soccer led them to the East tryout. Some barely slept the night before or spaced out during their seventh hour class, thinking through footwork and what-ifs.

For freshmen Ashley Koch and Cate Holzbeierlein, soccer had been their focus since they were toddlers.

They'd heard from returning players that varsity is infamous for being really tough to make, but they made it anyways. On March 5, the roster was posted on head coach Jamie Kelly’s twitter, and the congratulatory texts streamed into their phones.

But then the coronavirus cases spread to the U.S. — and the soccer Snapchat group was filled with teary-eyed pictures.

Holzbeierlein had been dreaming of making the varsity roster since her babysitter would tell her about how much she enjoyed playing for Kelly. The past year she trained for around seven hours a week with her club team ECNL — she wasn’t going to let herself slip up on tryout day. Her sister is a senior and had been on varsity the previous year, so she knew this would be the only year they’d get to play and practice together.

“I had always thought I’d be able to play with her one day and once I made varsity I was like, ‘Oh that’s this season,’” Holzbeierlein said. “Once we found out the rest of the year got cancelled . . . it made me sad because this is the one year I’d be able to play with her before she goes off to college.”

Koch made the East varsity team her goal once her competitive edge for the sport emerged early, around second grade. The whole first semester was filled with anticipation for the spring. She practiced hard with her club team, impatiently waiting for March to roll around — she couldn’t wait to play with the East girls.

“I was very, very sad because I’ve literally been looking forward to high school season for so long,” Koch said. “I was just waiting for March. I just wanted to have tryouts and start high school season.”

When Holzbeierlein reflects back on her freshmen year she tries to focus on big things — the link crew dance, homecoming and going to her friends’ sports games.

“I loved going to watch other people play,” Holzbeierlein said. “I’m sad that I don’t have a turn to play in front of my friends this year, but I know I still have three years to play again.”

Both Holzbeierlein and Koch realize that their time playing soccer at East has just barely started, and although they’re disappointed, they’re excited to grow as players in the next three years.

Theater

Indian Hills Middle School only has one musical every year, which was enough to hook many on the thrill of performance — but freshmen Delaney McDermot and Caroline Kanaley wanted more. And they knew East’s theater department had it.

McDermot and Kanaley couldn’t wait until their theater class four days a week. And throughout first semester, the freshmen found tight-knit friendships while rehearsing, sewing costumes or learning how to work the spotlights.

With the coronavirus outbreak came the cancellation of Soap Opera and Wanda’s Visit, which were the two acts of the spring play, and the remaining Frequent Fridays. The week after spring break would’ve been packed with rehearsals and McDermot would be practicing her part of a talking washing machine — but instead, she’s been grudgingly watching “The Office.”

“I felt a sense of disbelief that they were actually going to cancel the spring play,” McDermot said. “Obviously I’ll have more opportunities next year, but we’d all gotten really excited about this and I really loved my part and I really loved the play.”

Both Kanaley and McDermot were involved with Frequent Fridays throughout the year — whether they played a robot alien or helped with curtains. They grew close to the student directors of those shows, who were all seniors. All of theater would spend time together during monthly activities — a corn maze and laser tag being some of Kanaley’s favorites.

“I’m definitely going to miss all the seniors,” Kanaley said. “[When I found out], I was devastated because there’s no banquet right now either so it’s kinda like we won’t see any of the seniors for a while.”

Theater has a banquet tradition at the end of every year. The girls had seen pictures from previous years and knew the seniors give speeches, but didn’t know much else, so they’d been looking forward to it.

Now, the banquet is canceled for the time being, as well as thespian initiation, which the girls had been working towards for the whole year.

“It’s really really sad with all this stuff that just comes along with theater that we looked forward to, now it doesn’t get to happen,” McDermot said.

Baseball

Freshmen Luc Prendiville has signed up for the East baseball camps since he was 10. He’d work on fundamental skills like playing catch or hitting mechanics — and it was from those camps that he knew he wanted to play East baseball.

Freshmen Cade Austin had also wanted to wear the blue uniform since he was in elementary school. He had watched his older brother make it through the East baseball program, so he was consistent about taking runs and keeping his arm strength in preparation for March.

Each day after tryouts, they’d tell their parents all about it. They did tons of mechanical work, from the basics they’d cover at camps to on-field batting practice. Although specific teams were never decided completely, they were thrilled to make a team at all.

“I was on spring break when I heard about it being cancelled and I was just shocked because of how hard we’ve worked and how I’ve wanted to play for so long,” Prediville said. “It was just a really awful moment I’d say. And then you have all the baseball guys texting and saying ‘good season’ and wishing the seniors goodbye — it was not fun.”

According to Prendiville, the heaviest toll that came with the season’s end is that it would’ve been a huge opportunity for them to show the coaches how they play. Through the season, the coaches could get a good grasp of their skill level and how they can develop with instruction.

Austin agrees with Prendiville that freshman year is the “first impression” year, but he’s grateful that he is only a freshman so he still has time to prove himself in the next three years.

Latin

Freshman Ayla Ozkan taught herself the Latin I curriculum over the summer — she spent hours looking through flashcards with Latin verbs on them and teaching herself grammar rules so she could be enrolled in Latin II at East.

She was thrilled to be a part of the Latin community, even though she was the only freshman.

“The people in the Latin program are so nice and welcoming — I’m like the child,” Ozkan said.

Throughout the first semester of her freshmen year, Latin class and Latin club held her favorite memories — they’d play ultimate discus, eat food and further their knowledge of Latin culture.

For Ozkan, the cancellation of fourth quarter and of the remaining Latin activities hasn’t really registered yet.

Before the start of her freshmen year, she heard the East Latin program was fading out. But she was looking forward to learning Latin and she had filled in Latin on her enrollment form with confidence.

“Latin as a whole just means so much to me,” Ozkan said. “I was super excited to sign up for Latin coming into highschool . . . It was the one class I knew for certain that I want to do and I was really excited about. I was dead set on it.”

With only 20 people in the Latin program, she quickly grew close with the other members — whether that was through initiation, where they all brought food and put on togas and peploses, or through learning adjectives in the classroom.

The seniors had told her about their experience with LatinCon in the past. From what she’d heard this year, it was a convention where Latin students come together and dress up to perform skits and play ancient Roman games.

“I don’t really know much about it because obviously I’d never been before,” Ozkan said. “I was really, really looking forward to it.”

But she knows she’ll be able to participate in the future. And she will eventually do IB, so she’s enrolled in IB Latin III next year, with plans to continue her involvement with Latin club.